Hicca's Dragons of Berk (Edit)
by Jyx The Berserk
Summary: Hicca has discovered her first friend in the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, mad as that is, and may be falling for the beast. Will she embrace the world that has been opened to her, or stay with the village that scorns her? (Rewritten version of Hicca's Dragons of Berk. Lemons and gore in later chapters)
1. A Dragon in The Woods

Chased by Snotlout plus the twins into the woods, check; losing them in said woods, another yes; accidentally lost herself as well, unfortunately, yes. Hicca had been wandering for hours through the woods, trying to find her village unsuccessfully, and was getting more paranoid by the minute. She kept hearing twigs snapping and moving around her, and had a feeling of being watched while she walked, but saw nothing whenever she looked.

She happened upon a small crevice that dug somewhere and decided to follow it sheerly for the heck of it. All other thoughts were momentarily swept away by the breathtaking beauty of the cove she found herself in.

It was wider across than it was deep, with a small lake in the center, scattered boulders around the edge, and tree roots growing from the walls. If she ever found her way back, this could be her own private escape. She noticed a medium-sized cave over on one side and thought of the possibilities with setting up a small 'home-away-from-home' in this cove. The black dragon watching her from above had different plans, focused on Hicca instead of the setting.

He had been tailing her ever since she lost the other Vikings quite skillfully, and had noticed her for her comparatively slim build in relation to the other humans. He could scent the sadness, disappointment, and fear on her, a cloud of negativity that followed her through the forest. He tailed her to see what he could do to help, not knowing why he felt so protective of this Viking, just knowing that his emotions were screaming at him to shield this fragile girl.

Hicca had just finished writing plans in her journal and began heading for the mountain, easily visible from the cove, figuring that she could circle it to find her village if necessary. The unseen dragon continued to follow, keeping as quiet as possible and blending into shadows when necessary. She found her village surprisingly quick and decided that the cove was a perfect hideaway. She dodged a run-in with the night watchmen and slunk back to her house, praying to Odin that her father wasn't home yet. Her prayers were answered, and she walked tiredly up the stairs to her room, plopping onto her bed and falling asleep instantly, her barely audible snores whistling through the house.

She woke up next morning, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and grabbed a hunk of bread from the kitchen for breakfast, deciding to avoid the great hall this morning. The comforting smell of hot metal and hard work set her at ease, and she joined Gobber in bad song while she worked, outclassing him (and everyone else) with her natural gift. Everyone called her voice, "the one thing Odin got right with you"; while Gobber said that her voice was a lovely trait among many. One of her rare smiles had graced the world when he said this, turning into a laugh at Gobber's enormous belch soon after.

She kept up her singing while hammering in a finishing touch on a sword, changing tune with Gobber as he moved on to the next red-hot workpiece and she sharpened the nearly finished sword. Astrid came by in the afternoon, demanding a sharpening, receiving sass and her newly sharpened ax in moments. One shouting match later, and Hicca was back at work, somewhat gloomier than before.

"I shouldn't have taunted Astrid like that, it was rude," muttered Hicca, eyes focused on their work with less zeal than before, emerald eyes dimmed fractionally.

"If ya wan' rude, listen to tha' lass talkin' to Snotlout after he demands a date; my ears were ringin' fer weeks after, and I was on the other side o' the village!" claimed Gobber, managing to elicit snorts and giggles from Hicca with his out of proportion tale.

"One would almost think that she's related to the boneknapper, huh Gobber?" said Hicca, still giggling.

"Lass, we've gon' over this: the Boneknapper is a silen' killer, it makes no noise at all!" said Gobber, fake exasperation in his voice. He smiled with the fresh giggles that had come from Hicca. They bantered and worked happily through the rest of the day, getting into contests and bets the whole time. Hicca started home happily, but suddenly started running halfway back, fearing for her health, Snotlout and the twins once more on her tail. They had blocked her route home, and so she drove through the forest, hoping desperately that she would lose them.

She got lucky when dodging through some bushes, narrowly missing a badger nest underfoot. Her pursuers weren't as fortunate and were scratched harshly for their troubles. Hicca kept running, going all the way to the cove before she stopped. She panted harshly, leaning on her knees for support, trying to catch her breath.

She heard flapping and the rustling of scales - sure sounds of a dragon - and swung her head up to find a midnight black beast swooping towards her. She screamed, tripping over a rock in her panicked dash for the entrance, and slammed her head on the ground hard enough to knock herself unconscious. She came to slowly, the side of her head sticky and wet, and slowly looked around, panicking when she saw the dragon in front of the entrance. She'd been out for less than a half a minute, and the dragon was walking towards her.

She cowered against a boulder, arms over her head, sure that she was about to be burned to a crisp. She hyperventilated for a minute before stiffening: something was licking the side of her head. Her paralyzing fear didn't let her run, and she sat there with wide eyes as the dragon lapped at her bloody temple.

The dragon purred inaudibly while he licked the Viking clean, hoping that the vibrations might comfort her. His logical side was telling him to either backoff or outright flash burn the girl, but his instincts were tackling that, and telling him to comfort her. She stopped bleeding after a while, and the dragon stopped then, wrapping the small Viking in his wings and coiling around her for warmth. His wing became a canopy, and the already half-asleep Hicca nodded off in the safety of dragon body heat. She woke up the next morning with the mother of all bed head, and not a scale in sight as proof of the dragon. Her fishy hair spelled it out clearly though: a dragon had comforted and helped her. She washed her hair in a stream on the way back, confused by her encounter. She spent that day half in her own thoughts, managing to not hit her hands in the forge somehow, wondering about the dragon.

' _Dragons always go for the kill. That was definitely a dragon, so why didn't that one? What makes it so special?'_ a sudden thought occurred to her. _'What makes ME so special? I'm a nobody, a weakling, a mistake, and yet I'm the one to survive meeting what I can only guess was a Night Fury without so much as a knife and got cuddled by it to boot!'_ Her musings carried her all the way through the village and into the forest, stopping as she found the cove again.

She nearly bolted upon realizing where she was, but her curiosity stopped her. Why didn't that dragon attack her? Why did it HELP her? She needed answers, and the only place she could possibly get them was in the cove. She released a sigh at her stupidity and walked into the cove. She found the Night Fury sun bathing on a wide rock, rumbling in bliss as the heat made him sleepy. The odd sight had Hicca at a loss for words, and she wondered what to do. Her feet shuffled with indecision, and the dragon rolled over at the sound, just enough to look at her with a single eye, brow raised in curiosity.

She stammered and stared into the sea-green orb. "I-I-I… uh, hi… I know w-we've already met… b-but I-I didn't introduce myself, or-or-or thank you for helping me af-after I banged my head up." He rolled over fully, relaxed and calm, setting Hicca at ease. "So, despite not knowing if you can understand me, and likely being insane for talking to a dragon, thank you for doing what you could to help me yesterday… and for keeping me company. You're the first… anyone to do so, and it was much appreciated, even if I was unconscious at the time." He stretched luxuriously, producing pops and booms from his spine, before getting up and trotting over to Hicca.

She about had a heart-attack as he started moving, but was shocked into silence by the lick to her cheek. She didn't know how, but she suddenly knew that he'd understood, and was giving her a 'you're welcome' as only a dragon could. She smiled at him, and he looked a little confused about the expression, before giving a smile without any teeth.

"Toothless? But the other day you had…" she muttered, looking into his mouth. She jumped back when he unsheathed his teeth, watching confused as the dragon made a chuffing sound. She suddenly realized: he was laughing at her! She pulled all the stops on her snark, sass, and sarcasm as she replied to his taunt.

"Oh, excuuuse me for being surprised at a lizard who doesn't have any teeth. My mistake for assuming that you were so young, oh ancient one, toothless with age." She gave a low bow to the 'old lizard,' whose narrowed eyes displayed his irritation. He bumped her chest with his head, tripping her onto her butt with a yell of surprise. "Wanna play like that, huh? Alright then," she said, grinning. She bopped his nose, sending it into a twitching frenzy. She ran from him as fast as possible, shouting "You're it!" over her shoulder. He caught on after a moment of confusion, and the two chased each other around the cove until Hicca was sweaty and the dragon was smug.

"You know…" Hicca huffed, catching her breath, "I can't… call you 'Dragon'… or 'You' all the time… but I think I found… a name for you… how does 'Toothless' sound?" "Toothless" snorted at the name, somewhat indignant, and turned his back to Hicca with as much contempt as he could manage. "Uh-huh, I've found a name for you…" she paused for effect, quietly walking near his ear. "… Toothless." He pushed her onto her rear with a paw, rolling eyes at her chuckling form.

The name Toothless grew on the Night Fury, and so did Hicca. They spent many afternoons together in the cove, Hicca always making certain she wasn't followed before entering the woods, and growing closer to one another in both an emotional and physical sense. Accidents became teasing, and teasing turned into flirting. After one particularly bold lick on Toothless' nose, she realized something even madder than befriending a dragon while lying in bed.

"I'm falling in love with a dragon…" she whispered to the rafters overhead, a confession that excited and frightened her.


	2. Leaving for The Nest

The playful days had calmed into relaxed afternoons full of snores and drawing, but Hicca had become skittish and shy around Toothless, a fact he noticed. She blushed at even the slightest glance he sent her way and seemed to be constantly tense whenever she lay against his side. He stopped her from sitting down one day and looked at her with curiosity. Hicca looked back with confusion but understood when he glanced at the ground, apparently with embarrassment, as a mirror of her.

She sighed. "I know how I've been acting recently, Toothless, and I'm sorry if it's made you uncomfortable. I've been having thoughts and… urges that don't make sense," she confessed, before pouring out everything. "I'm likely going to get a heart attack with all the fluttering it's doing and my hands could make butter with how much they shake around you. I can't get you out of my head; I can't even draw you for fear of my sanity, even if I could do it blindfolded. I haven't ever thought… felt… _met_ anyone or anything that makes me feel like this, and I don't know what it means, Toothless. I don't know if I'm sick if there's… something… wrong with… me…" she trailed off, noticing Toothless' eager closeness for the first time. Some emotion was shining from his eyes like a beacon, but what was it? She got as far as opening her mouth.

Their lips met skin to scale, maw to mouth, not fitting or even the proper size for each other, but working all the same. Toothless was purring like a herd of cats, and Hicca was shocked into blissful silence, hands slowly coming up to wrap around the dragon's head. Neither of them had ever felt something like this, but Toothless knew what it meant.

' _I've found my Love!_ ' he thought, excited at both the possibilities and the implications.

Their eyes were closed in the moment before Hicca backed away; face blushed to the point of worry, and knees shaking under her skirt.

"That was… that was… amazing…" she said, unable to adequately express how he'd just made her feel. She walked back a few paces before running from the cove, a confused but joyful expression on her face. Hopefully Toothless knew she needed time to think about this. She was glowing the whole way back to the village, stopping short at the lit fire visible through the windows of her home.

Stoick was inside.

She crept to the back of the house, quietly opening the door and shutting it behind her. Stoick stood at the fire pit, his back to her thankfully. Across the floor, up the stairs, and she'd be home free. She rushed on the stairs, making too much noise-

"Hicca," Stoick said, lifting his head. Hicca winced, stopping.

"Hi dad," she mumbled. Her father turned to face her, the rare emotion of embarrassment on his face. "I-I need to talk to you."

"I need to speak with you too, my daughter." They breathed in and spoke at the same time.

"I think it's - I don't want to - for you - **fight dragons. What?** " Hicca offered an olive branch.

"You-you go first."

"No, you first," he said, surprising Hicca with another rarity. She stopped it there.

"Okay… I really don't want to fight dragons, dad," she said, quickly explaining, "I-I'm not meant to fight dragons in the first place, a-and you're right that I-I'm always in the way. I've decided to listen to you, and j-just listen to you in the r-raids."

He huffed, dragging a hand over his face, nodding as he did so. "I was going to suggest dragon training, but if yer so set on not fighting, I may as well accept it. You get your wish, Hicca." He hesitated for a moment after the proclamation, mouth half open. "… I've… also noticed how… some of the things you make… could _maybe_ help the village. I'll allow you to keep making things ONLY… if you keep them away from the village and have them ready before their brought into it. If it blows up, springs apart, or burns up, you need to find that out before it comes anywhere near our home, understood?"

He was using his stern tone, but Hicca was nodding eagerly. Not having to go to dragon training AND getting an excuse to visit the woods? She had better not jinx this. "I understand, dad. I'll work out any problems well before it comes near Berk." He nodded, satisfied.

"Good. Keep that up, and I'll have a reward for you once I return from the nest." Hicca boggled and barely held in her outburst.

"N-nest? I didn't know that you'd found it."

"We haven't, but the little devil on the front of our ship has, and he'll point us home as sure as the wind blows. We've got them this time, Hicca, I'm sure of it." She could only nod dumbly, mind whirling with possibilities of this venture.

"Good luck, dad." She whispered to the closing door, for once hoping that he'd come back through it.

Her father had apparently told everyone what she'd be doing while he was away, and was bothered absolutely none as she walked to Gobber's forge, a first. It was empty when she arrived, and she remembered dragon training, which Gobber would be teaching at the moment. She grabbed a few basic tools for working a forge, and left a note for the one-armed metal worker:

 _Gobber,_

 _I'm going to spend as much time as possible creating and working on my projects, which I borrowed the tools for. Don't worry if you don't see me in the village for a while, I've got food and water aplenty in the forest. I also wouldn't recommend trying to find me. Any number of my inventions could be volatile, and trying to make better dragon traps could get you or the other villagers hurt, so tell them to stay out as well. I'll come by every once in a while to help in the forge, but I may be too busy for that to happen often. I'll try to remember though, so I'll see you then._

 _P.S. I've got my bedroll and a canvas, don't worry about my living arrangements._

With that done, she went back to her house to pack some extra clothes and drawing paper, as well as some cooking utensils. She didn't plan to have raw fish the entire time she stayed with Toothless.

The walk to the cove took quite a bit longer than normal and was very awkward under the weight of her packing. She managed and set up everything in the shallow cave she'd noticed her first time here. She pinned a canvas over the entrance to keep out the draft, and dug a pit for the fire, setting her bed against the wall with the lowest ceiling. The opposite wall had a hollow that traveled through the rock and would work excellently at venting the smoke.

Toothless was endlessly curious about what she was doing and kept poking his nose at everything. She finally humored him when she finished setting up the forge, the last thing she had to do.

"If you haven't noticed, Mr. Nosey, I'm staying here for a while. I don't know how or why, but dad gave me permission to tinker with things while he was away looking for the nest, so long as I did it away from the village. And in the meantime…" she said, giving him a long kiss on the lips. She was huffing when she finished. "…I've got you all to myself."

They were bolder with all the time they spent together, and even Hicca's busy schedule didn't interfere. They moved passed kisses to touches, stroking wings, arms, everywhere they were allowed. A few places neither of them were ready to caress, but they knew they would at some point. Hicca had also abandoned her bed rather quickly, only using the cave for storage and delicate work after she discovered the warmth of dragon bellies.

She also began to gain some muscle with all of the hard work and games of tag she played with Toothless, as well as gaining some height. It was too much at once to be natural, and she got suspicious.

"Hey, Toothless?" she asked one afternoon, "Do you know anything that would… change me?" He tilted his head. "I've been getting stronger and taller in a shorter time than my body should be able to handle. What's up? I know it's got something to do with us being together, so spill it." He knew very well what was going on, but couldn't think of a way to tell Hicca. He got an idea and hoped Hicca would understand it.

He drew a circle in the sand that was big enough for Hicca to stand in, gesturing for her to do so. He stepped back to draw a circle for himself, and connected the two with a line, after which he drew a larger circle around Hicca's, the same size as his.

"Okay, there's me in the small circle, you in the big one, a connection, and then our circles match… I'm changing because of our love?" He nodded. "How?" he patted his chest and head, then did the same to Hicca. "That one's beyond me, Tooth, you'll have to be more specific." He grumbled in frustration, getting a kiss from Hicca to calm him down. He tried to think of something and remembered an expression Hicca had once told him. He pointed at his eyes, and then Hicca's.

"Something to do with eyes… the literal sense?" He shook his head. "Figurative then… hang on; body, eyes, head, a connection. Eyes are the window to the soul, does this have something to do with that?" He nodded, smiling without showing gums. "Gods not being able to talk is annoying. So our souls are connected in some way… because of our relationship? We're soul mates?" He kissed her and danced around when she got it, proud of his communication skills.

"Quick question though: if I'm changing because we're soul mates, I'm assuming that I'm getting changes from you, right?" he gave her a yes, calming down a bit. "How much will I change?" He redrew the circles around Hicca and himself, as well as the line that connected them, and then split the connection in half with a line, pointing at it. "Halfway? You think I'm going to be a half dragon?" He nodded at her. He drew two more circles, smaller than Hicca's, and pointed at himself and the circles, then connected them with two lines, splitting both in half. "Dragon soul mates?" He nodded at her. "And they both change to meet their mate half way… Will you be changed by us being soul mates?" Toothless thought hard on that one. He gave an uncertain grumble and a shrug of his wings. "… Maybe you won't. If I've noticed changes by now, I think you would have as well, and so far as I can tell you haven't changed."

She clapped her hands, exhaling loudly. "That was exhausting, but thank you, Toothless." She fell over into sand, relaxing in the scratchy warmth, joined by Toothless moments later. She climbed onto his belly, relaxing with him in the sun, apparently receiving his laziness with her changes. "I'm blaming you for my sunbathing habits, just so you know." He gave an unimpressed rumble that shook Hicca's entire body, and the two fell asleep in the light.

* * *

 **The second chapter of my story guys! I hope you liked it, and I'm really trying to slow this down, something I sorely need practive in. Let me know what you think so that I can correct any errors at all. Help me help you. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter. (Could spellcheck tell me where he saw my mistake? I can't find what you're talking about.)  
**


	3. Becoming Mates

Hicca was changing more every day. The first big change was her skin hardening and cracking into scales, then turning pitch black. Her hair fell out next, an annoyance, and her ears turned into the flaps that Toothless had - all six of them. While that happened her wings and tail grew in, and her legs gained a knee. After that was her claws, and she passed out for a day while her head changed. All in all, everything took about a month to finish, and Toothless was getting restless.

When she finished changing, she confronted him. "What's up, Toothless? You've been skittish all month, and I want to know why." She'd expected an explanation by drawing but got something very different from that.

" _I'm in season, Hicca,_ " he replied, making Hicca gasp in surprise when she understood him, " _and you being the only female Night Fury - even half - I've seen is making it hard to hold in my instincts._ " After getting over her shock at being able to understand Toothless, she tried to think up a solution.

"Is there any way for me to help you?" she asked, concerned. "I hate to be the cause of any type of harm to you, Toothless."

"… _There is… but I might hurt you during any activity that would solve my problem the normal way, which is way worse in my mind than some stupid hormones. That will never be worth it,_ " he told her firmly. She rolled the problem around in her head. Toothless was in heat, had been since she'd begun transforming, and needed relief before it got worse. Dragon sized objects might fit inside of her body with her recent adaptations, but that was an unknown neither she nor Toothless wanted to risk. That left few options, but they might work well enough for the moment.

"Well, I can think of a few things that might help, but I have to confess complete inexperience in this area," she admitted, tail wrapping around her legs and hands folding together in front of her. If she could have, she'd have been blushing at that moment. "As much as I'm willing to help you, I don't know if I can do this."

" _Same for me, in all honesty,_ " Toothless confessed. " _I was always waiting for a mate to come to me, and she hasn't until recently. I guess we'll both have to figure this out pretty quick. What did you have in mind?_ "

"I was thinking to use my hands, and see if that will help," she said, thoroughly embarrassed. Toothless nodded, sitting back on his haunches. Hicca stared between his legs, impressed and scared at the same time. How was this supposed to fit inside of her? He was the size of her forearm, with a nubbed cap and a large knot at the base. Even with the change making her a couple feet taller, this thing was massive!

" _You might have had the right idea with hands,_ " Toothless said, snapping her from her reverie, " _I might be too much for you as is._ "

"M-My thoughts exactly," she managed to get out.

She walked over to him and kneeled before his erection, eyes still stuck fast to the purple organ. She reached out with one hand, experimentally touching her soft pads to the tip. He tensed at the contact, inhaling sharply as she began slowly rubbing over the whole head. Her hand came away shining and slick, covered with a clear lubricant that coated Toothless' entire length in a thick layer. She felt up his entirety, feeling his pulse race under her digits, making quite a mess as she explored. She sized up the knot by trying to wrap her hands around it, just managing to touch her fingertips together. Beneath that was a stem of sorts, easily fitting in just one hand. With that done, she wrapped one hand above the other on top of Toothless' knot and began rubbing up and down on him, taking her time with a loose grip.

Above her, the black dragon was breathing heavily with his eyes closed tight, huffing through an open mouth as Hicca worked him. He hadn't ever felt anything like this, but could definitely say he'd been missing out all the years he'd been alone. A tension was building behind his hips and traveling upward, enhancing the pleasure.

" _Hicca… I feel… a pressure in my hips… something is coming,_ " he warned her. She'd wondered why he was hardening under her hands but had her answer now. She prepared for whatever was about to happen, keeping her pace on him. He suddenly roared, thrusting into her hands as a thick cream shot from the opening in his tip all over her face. She'd opened her mouth to shout in surprise, and caught a full serving of the liquid in her mouth. She swallowed in surprise, discovering the sweet, musky, unique taste of the cream, and opened her mouth to catch more. He kept spurting for half a minute, by the end of which Hicca was completely covered from her shoulders up, with some of the cream falling onto her chest. It dripped and flowed thickly, slowly spreading over her upper body towards the ground.

Toothless backed up quickly to check on her, worried he might have hurt her, but stood stunned at her appearance: black scales covered in white honey, chest heaving from trying to swallow so much and still trying to collect the liquid in her hands to drink it. She was stunningly beautiful, and she awoke a savage hunger in Toothless.

" _On your back,_ " he growled at her. She stopped what she was doing suddenly, looking at him. His pupils were thin, and his breath was heavy.

"Toothless, what-" she got out, before she was thrown on her back by his paw, and pinned by it.

" _I said…_ " he snarled, dragging his rough tongue over her dripping snatch, making her moan in surprised pleasure. "… _on your back!_ " He went neither gently nor slowly, spreading her legs with his head and shoving his tongue into her vent without ceremony. Hicca was stunned but was crying out loudly at his treatment, unable to rest as he stretched and rubbed every square inch of her inner walls. She was soaking wet, and Toothless eagerly drank her fluids as he went down on her. She felt something building in her own hips at one point, but it was blinding hot instead of a pressure. At its peak, she was gasping under Toothless' relentless assault and gave a silent scream at the release. Her vision dimmed as she rode through her first orgasm, not able to come back down with Toothless working her constantly. She came for what must have been a full minute, nearly blacked out as the dragon finished eating her hips. She lay there gasping, able to rest at last. Or so she thought.

Toothless climbed on top of her, intentions clear. She got nervous and then panicked when he began trying to push his cock into her nether regions.

"Toothless, wait, don't!" she said, ignored by the fully instinctive beast above her. He finally lined up with her entrance, and all Hicca could do was relax and pray that she would be able to fit him. She was still extremely sensitive from his earlier actions and felt everything as he tried to push in, holding back her moans by biting her lip. He thrust in quickly, and tried to fit as much of himself inside of her as possible; too much for even her biting to handle, she moaned louder than ever. He made it down to just above his knot before thumping against her cervix, surprising Hicca more than anything else. She'd fit almost his entire length without practice! He growled, and she got worried.

His hips moved back slowly, dragging the nubbed head back through her passage at the same time. With one shove, he buried the same amount of his cock back inside of her tunnel, smashing her cervix and pushing a scream of pleasure from Hicca's throat. Toothless snapped from his daze at that sound and looked down at Hicca with surprise.

" _By the winds, I'm so sorry, Hicca!_ " he apologized, making to pull out from her.

"Stop now and I'll kick your ass!" she threatened, chest heaving. Toothless was shocked at her language, but obeyed her regardless, and began thrusting once more. "Harder, faster, don't you dare go gently!" she ordered him, smiling around a lolling tongue as he complied, moans escaping her with every push and pull. On one thrust, Hicca's wall gave way before Toothless, and he was buried to the knot in her hips. She came again at the feeling of his head in her womb, eyes rolled back with pleasure as he pierced her innermost area.

Toothless was getting one surprise after another with Hicca, and this was the latest. Not only was she able to take him into her womb, but it also apparently caused her pleasure! He jumped from his thoughts as she told him to keep going, and he found his pace once again, constantly getting squeezed by the tight ring at his head. His knot kept hitting her lower lips, demanding entrance, but not receiving it. Added to that problem, Shade felt his orgasm rising once more, and wasn't sealed. He estimated a few things in his head, buying as much time as he could before he blew, and decided to risk his idea at the last moment. " _I'm about to cum again,_ " was all the warning Hicca got.

Toothless slammed his hips against his mate's, pushing her belly out visibly with his head, and forcing the rest of his knot in before he let loose. His knot doubled in size, plugging Hicca tight, as he unleashed a torrent of seed, somehow larger than the last. Hicca was left with no option but to expand, which she did with more than a bit of moaning. She had at least two orgasms while he blew up her stomach, though they all blended together into one long chain of pleasure. Hicca was barely holding onto consciousness after that, unable to catch her breath for the tightness in her torso, but managed to look down at her belly.

The soft scales that layered over her front and down the bottom of her tail were somehow stretched out, like a shirt that had been pulled after getting wet, and outlined a bulge that made it seem like she'd been carrying a child for nine months. The last thoughts in her head were disbelieving before she passed out, supported by Toothless' cock and paw. Meanwhile, her newly official mate was busy removing her from his hips, and wondering why he'd filled her so much.

" _I've never produced so much, especially after a first round. Is it because of the bond, something I've eaten? Nothing's changed in my diet, and I haven't changed from the bond, at least on… the outside…_ " he mumbled to himself, before coming to a realization. " _Hicca must have changed on the inside to hold this much, and perhaps I've changed internally as well to match her. Skies know what purpose producing this much serves, but I don't think Hicca minds,_ " he chuckled, looking at his bloated but happy mate. She was smiling in her sleep, curled on the ground in a ball around her stomach, which surprisingly hadn't leaked anything so far. Toothless yawned and curled around Hicca's form before going to sleep, a bit more of a challenge thanks to her growth and expansion, deciding to think more on the topic in the morning.

When the sun shined down into the cove the following day, Hicca still hadn't allowed so much as a drop to escape from her nether region, and as much as she enjoyed the feeling of her full belly sloshing around, she was hindered by her stomach with almost anything she attempted. She finally got tired of it around midday, and put some effort into draining her womb. She walked a short distance through the woods, not wanting to spoil the pond, and quickly dug a hole that would be large enough to hold the cum inside of her. A few pushes and one stomach squeezing later, and her slit finally released Toothless' sperm. She wasn't surprised when she filled up most of the hole but was shocked to discover that her abdominal area hadn't kept its stretched look after deflating. She rubbed a hand over her smooth, tight stomach to be certain it was real and decided that she loved the benefits of her changes. Sex like that, and she kept her body perfect? She wouldn't give that up if offered chiefdom!

Toothless was just as surprised (and pleased) at Hicca's discovery, but pondered all of the odd adaptations they'd both received.

" _I wonder why we've changed like this,_ " he questioned aloud. Hicca asked what he meant. As far as she knew, he was totally normal for a Night Fury. " _That's the thing: I ejaculated far more last night than is possible for a dragon my size, twice in a row. I literally didn't have enough mass to make that much even once, and I don't know where it came from._ "

Hicca looked at him for a long moment, walking closer to look at his body. He looked like he had a few weeks ago, but there were subtle differences under his scales: most of his fat was gone, revealing chiseled muscles underneath, and his stomach had caved and hardened into a solid wall of muscle. His wings had bulked with more muscle, and his tail was thinner than before. Looking down at his tracks, they were the same depth as at the time of their meeting, despite his even smaller form. Overall, he seemed more condensed, more fit, and efficient.

"We were wrong, you have changed. It's very subtle, but there are a lot of changes. To give a simple answer, your body is working so much better that you've gained muscle and lost fat, despite not working hard for weeks now. I'm willing to assume your bones are more dense to keep up with your muscles since your weight hasn't changed through any of this. It's not that difficult to assume that the most important organs in your body, from an evolutional standpoint, are working harder as well. Adding all of that together, you are one heck of a sex machine.

"As for me, I'm changing to match you and accept as much as you can give, but also to increase the chances of survival. From the perspective of staying alive and making children, everything that's happened has a reason behind it." She looked at Toothless with a hungry eye, raking his body appreciatively. "Not to mention, you're sexy as all Hel," Hicca purred, teasing her mate.

" _There'll be a reckoning for words like that, Hicca,_ " he growled back, predatory and equally teasing, " _and you're not going to be able to walk after it arrives._ " Threats and promises made, Hicca turned her head to one side.

"Sorry to spoil the mood, but a question I've had on my mind for a while is why I can understand you. I couldn't before, why now?"

" _For one thing, I doubt souls are bound by language, and for another, we wouldn't be able to mate very easily if we couldn't talk to each other. At this point, I'm just going to blame any supernatural occurrences on our bond._ " Hicca laughed at this but agreed with that logic fully.


	4. An Unexpected Visitor

Soon after becoming a true mate to Toothless, Hicca realized that she hadn't spent any time at all inventing, and decided to fix this. Ideas were drawn up and thrown out for a few hours before she settled on something simple: armor. Her scales worked fine against cuts and scrapes, but piercing and blunt force wounds were still a danger to even full dragons. She worked on the design for a while, adding in limiters to the joints to prevent overextension. She gathered the materials she needed and didn't finish working until late that night.

Her eyes gleamed with joy and mania as she worked in the dark, hammer blows sending forge flies out with every strike, pieces of the armor taking shape under her guidance. She didn't make use of wood or coals to heat the metal but instead her own fire. She chanted as she worked, the tempo of her swings matching the song, which told tales of war and heroes long passed, and the hardship of great sea captains exploring with their brave crew.

The morning sun and Toothless found her slumped over a still cooling forge, hammer in hand and partially finished armor in pieces on a nearby tarp. She woke up before noon, had some fish, and jumped right back into her work with a grin; the only thing changed about the scene from last night was the light of the sun.

The dull black armor was finished at sunset, not beautiful, not ugly, but functional. Every detail of the armor was flawless, but it would never be called smooth. The mail that could be seen between some pieces of the armor was made of metal diamonds formed into a sheet, similar to the covering of her father's clothing. A chest piece covered her front and back, leaving openings for her back spines and wings, while her lower abdomen had overlapping plates protecting it. Her limbs were covered with eight separate pieces to protect her wrists, upper arms, shins, and thighs. The joints were surrounded by small loose plates on chains, providing lesser but still decent protection. Special shoes surrounded her feet leaving her claws exposed, and the same went for her gauntlets. The final piece, her helmet, was actually a two-part metal mask; one half covered her head, leaving room for her eyes, horns, and ears, while the other protected her jaw and throat. Solid metal plates were placed wherever possible and overlapped for better flexibility where they met. Nothing was polished, and everything retained its hammered and blackened look.

" _I'm impressed you finished all of that in two days,_ " Toothless stated, looking closely at the armor as Hicca modeled it. " _I also like the look of it. You Vikings always like your metal shiny, but this is way better in my opinion._ "

"Yeah," Hicca replied, "I figured turning myself into a flying mirror would be a mistake, even at night, so I left it dark and rough. By the way, it's harder for a weapon to rust when it's smooth." Toothless looked at her as she said this, and looked back to her armor.

" _Won't this rust easily then?_ "

"Surprisingly no. I've found that dragon fire makes metal unrustable whether it's shiny or rough, even when I try to make it rust." She walked over to the pond and fished around for a small metal disk. It was rough and damp, black like her armor, and devoid of any rust at all. "This has been left in the pond for a few days, and while that may be a short time for rust, there would have been something on here by now if it were normal metal." She tossed the disk into her scrap pile.

" _Strange, but useful I guess,_ " Toothless added, sniffing at her armor. " _… Odd, this armor smells like dragons. I can smell you underneath it, but the armor has the musky, scaly smell of dragons embedded in it. Must be another effect of dragon fire._ " Hicca smelled an arm plate herself and found he was right, but the smell brought the taste of her fire to her mouth, and she realized why it smelled.

"You were half right; it smells like dragon fire itself. It brings to mind the smoke of when I was making the armor or the burn on my tongue after I took a break." Another sniff from Toothless proved her right.

" _How did you pick up on-_ " a screaming teen thumping into the dirt behind the two startled them from their thoughts, and they whipped around to face Astrid scrambling to her feet. She was covered in moss and dirt from her landing, and her wide eyes switched quickly between Hicca and the dragon. The sun had set some time ago, probably why she said what she did as she ran for the door.

"Run Hicca! Come on, I know the way back to the - URK!" She shouted, only to be cut off by another face plant, this time because of a dragon paw holding her down, her ax flung across the cove by the force of the impact. She tried screaming for help, but Hicca put a clawed and scaly hand over her mouth, shutting her up and stunning her enough to stop struggling. The owner of the hand leaned down to her eye level.

"Hi Astrid," Hicca said, the struggles starting up again in earnest, stopping with the claws pricking near her spine, "I'm going to be honest: I wasn't expecting you to drop by. In fact, I didn't want anyone from the village to drop by. I'm going to ask how you found me later, but for now, you're going to listen, and I'm going to tell you the truth. You can either listen to it with my hand over your mouth, or you can promise to not make such an awful racket. Deal?" Astrid quickly nodded, and Hicca narrowed her eyes at her. "I mean it, Astrid. If it helps you not to scream, I promise that neither I nor Toothless will hurt you." She slowly removed her hand after Astrid nodded again, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, with all of that out of the way, I've got a long story to tell and a hard thing for you to swallow.

"I better start a few months back, when I found this cove…" Hicca began telling Astrid everything that had happened in the last few months, from meeting Toothless to changing into a half-dragon, and Astrid sat there quietly like she'd promised. "… and now we find ourselves here. Toothless pinning you down, you underneath his paw, and me telling a story. You can ask questions now, but you're still not getting up until I know I can trust you." Astrid was silent for a while, thinking with a slightly angry expression, and turned to Hicca after she finished.

"Why were you out here to begin with?"

Hicca responded immediately. "Easy: Snotlout and the twins were chasing me, and I've grown to know every log in this forest after all of the times I've escaped them in here. It turns out that the threat of broken bones helps one remember vital details like the placement of streams and badger nests excellently."

"Couldn't you have spoken to your father? I'm pretty sure the chief has the most say in the village unless I'm wrong and you're the daughter of a fisherman." Hicca's sudden fit of bitter cackling as she held her sides on the ground startled her.

"Oh, what a _great_ suggestion Astrid! Tell all of my woes to the one man in the village that hates me more than ANYONE ELSE!" She glared down at Astrid with fury. "If I told him I wasn't strong enough to handle three bullies by myself, I'd have had a fourth: my father! The man grounded me for a month once because I couldn't lift a short sword at the age of eight! He tried to get me to bulk up by putting me to work with Gobber - actually, no, he didn't put me to work with him, he dumped his problem child on his best friend, and left her there to be raised by the village nut so he could focus more on his village. Telling my father about my problems is a gods-damned death sentence!" The tears in her eyes broke free and began running down her face rapidly as she fell to her knees, sobbing silently.

Both Toothless and Astrid were in shock at Hicca's outburst, and the startling news it had contained. Toothless moved forward to comfort Hicca, and Astrid stayed in the same spot he'd left her, though she did sit up.

"Hicca… I had no idea…" Astrid muttered. "Is it that bad throughout the village?"

Hicca sniffed, nodding. Toothless had removed her helmet and was lapping at the side of her head in an attempt to stop her tears. "It is, and it has been for as long as I can remember. You've heard Snotlout and the twins call me 'Hicca the Useless,' but practically everyone else calls me the same name. I'm also known as 'Bad Luck,' 'Walking Disaster,' 'Mistake,' and simply 'Useless.' According to everyone else, I've never done a single thing in my wretched life right, and that it would have been better for everyone - father included - if the dragon that had eaten my mother had killed me in the same night." She looked Astrid in the eye but grew angry at her new expression. "Don't you _dare_ show me pity now. You didn't when I called for help without receiving it, and I don't want you to only after you've heard my story." Hicca wiped her eyes and looked back at Astrid. "So now you know everything: my motivations, my story, my goals. What do you plan to do? Run back to that village to earn respect with the blood of me and the only being to ever show me kindness, or something that doesn't include a dragon hunt?"

The silence stretched out, Astrid's watery eyes unblinking as she thought for several minutes. An internal war was waged between her loyalty to her chief and village, and the instinct that telling them about Hicca and Toothless was _wrong_. Dragons obviously didn't kill on sight, as she had known her whole life, and the proof of that was being comforted in front of her by a scaly fire-breathing monster of the sky. She blinked away her tears as she looked at Hicca, swallowing hard past the knot tied in her throat.

"… I won't tell them, Hicca, but you can't go back either while you look like this. What do you plan to do," Astrid asked, voice quiet and face blank. Hicca sighed.

"I intend to leave." Hicca was emotionally drained at this point, and her voice showed it. "You're right that I can't stay here or show my face in Berk again. You can make up some story about how I was eaten, and Toothless can help me to make the cove hold more believable evidence. I'm sure there'll be a celebration after the news breaks." Hicca's words strengthened Astrid's resolve, but not in her village, in the half-dragon before her. She refused to sit and kill in a village that would treat one of its own like this.

"Then there will be two faked deaths in the village," Astrid stated, the iron in her voice making Hicca look at her. "I refuse to stay in a place where they treat anyone like this, especially the daughter of the chief. I'd thought for years that it was just those three hurting you, and I never imagined that even that was so serious. I was wrong, and I will make it up to you. For both my ignorance and stubbornness." Hicca sat for only a moment and was hugging Astrid the next.

"Thank you," she whispered, Astrid returning the hug.

* * *

 **Hello everyone. I've been busy with the holidays for a while now, and haven't been able to write a whole lot. I cracked down on it though and managed to finish one chapter and write another. I hope you enjoy both, and as always tell me if I make any errors or if you have suggestions for the story. See you in the next chapter!**


	5. The Tail, The Queen, The Flight

Astrid, Toothless, and Hicca sat around a small campfire that Hicca had built, discussing what needed to be done before they left.

"I don't need to take clothes," Hicca started, "but you taking any might attract attention, Astrid. Best to take what you have on you."

Astrid's reclaimed ax was sheathed on her back at the moment, and she nodded her head at the logic. "As much as I hate dirty clothes, taking anything else is suspicious." She had a sudden thought. "What about the dragons in the arena? We can't leave them there."

" _We've thought about that,_ " Toothless said, Hicca translating for Astrid. " _We decided that if we were to free the dragons, a night escape would be best. It will have to be done quietly, and a distraction together with it would ensure none of us are caught._ "

"So, what? Start a fire, make a lot of noise?" Astrid asked.

"More like fake a dragon raid. Nobody would get hurt, Berk would think it had won without a scratch, and the confusion will cover our escape. They might have a few ringing ears, but that's it."

"I don't think they'll buy that," Astrid criticized. "You'll have to take something to make them believe it: a basket of fish or a lamb that you drop off in the forest."

" _We can work with that I think,_ " Toothless replied, looking to Hicca. " _So we have a plan? Sneak in, I start a distraction, you sneak out, I catch up?_ " They agreed and said that they would meet back at the cove. Toothless gave Astrid a ride to the arena, her first time flying made her stomach queasy, and Toothless flew towards the village raising Hel. Hicca and Astrid opened the cages, and Hicca told them all the plan. She was sad to not have the Terror with them, but she couldn't save him from where he was. They flew low on the ocean around the island, Astrid riding the Nadder to the cove, and Hicca gave a high pitch screech to signal Toothless. They all landed in the cove and waited for Toothless only a few minutes. He arrived back shortly, almost falling from the sky as he landed roughly. Hicca ran to his side and checked him, finding an arrow through a part of his tail, close to his fins.

"What happened?!" she asked frantically, not wanting to touch the arrow in case she made it worse.

" _Wasn't checking behind myself when I went after a rack of fish,_ " he grunted, making his tail more comfortable. " _One of the villagers got a lucky shot. I felt something snap, and my fin is stuck like that. I don't think I could use it if it were pulled out._ "

Hicca was unconsciously keening as she paced, trying to think of a solution to help her mate. She couldn't remove the arrow, he was unable to fly well, and she didn't know anything or anyone who could help. She turned to the dragons from the arena.

"Do any of you know something that can help? His flight is at stake here," she pleaded, but none of them could help her. She checked the wound more carefully and found that it was swelling up, his fin doing the same. There was also a discoloration in the scales, and she dreaded what that could mean. An oil dripped from the shaft of the arrow, and she could smell eel.

"Oh, gods, eel oil," Hicca whispered, hands covering her mouth. "The arrow's poisoned. It won't matter if we can remove the arrow, your fin is lost anyways, Toothless." He sniffed at the arrow, shell-shocked.

" _No, no, no, I can't lose my tail!_ " he said to himself.

"The longer it's in there, the more that will be lost, Toothless," Hicca told him. "We have to remove it and the affected area before any more goes beyond saving." He nodded to her, still stunned, and she gave him a log to bite on while she did what was needed. She borrowed Astrid's ax for the cleanest removal and gave one quick swing. The sound of dragon howls and roaring fire echoed around the island.

Hicca woke up the next morning with bloodshot eyes, looking with guilt towards her mate and his one-sided tail. She'd had to remove the left fin entirely, and a chunk of the tail it was attached to. Then she'd cauterized the wound with her fire, the smell of that procedure lingering in the cove. Toothless hadn't slept the whole night and was still staring at his tail even after the stars had vanished.

" _I'll never fly again,_ " Hicca heard him whisper. She looked away from the pitiful sight and happened to glance at her forge. An idea sprung to her mind, an implausible but accomplishable one. She didn't waste time on breakfast and began working the forge with zeal. The other dragons woke up as she began working, wondering what in skies name she was doing, but had a gut instinct to not interrupt. Hicca beat rods into shape, formed complex bearings and gears, and scorched treated leather to blacken and fireproof it. After a quick assembly that took place shortly after midday, she criticized her craft: an artificial tailfin.

The melancholy Toothless was yanked from his stupor when Hicca presented the fin to him, and his eyes widened at it, hope rekindling inside of him. She attached the prosthesis to his tail, some parts screwing into the ends of cut bones, and others clamping to severed tendons. He tried to move his new tail and was able to with only some slight pain. He was able to move it independently of his other fin, just like his old one, and gave Hicca many kisses and licks in thanks for helping him to fly again. The other dragons were gobsmacked at the creation, almost an exact copy of the other fin, and wondered what else the half dragoness could create.

They all prepared to set off, but Toothless seemed distracted.

"What's wrong?" Hicca asked him, walking away from her pack of tools.

" _I was just thinking about the dragons left in the nest,_ " he replied, " _and the queen. They don't deserve to be forced into raiding for her, and I was wondering what we could do._ " Hicca tilted her head at him.

"Forced by the queen?" she asked. "How?"

" _She has a… a song almost, which commands the dragons,_ " he explained." _It blanks our minds, makes room only for her. If they don't bring back enough food to satisfy her, they're eaten._ " Hicca became uneasy at the last part.

"Toothless… how big is the queen?" she asked slowly. Toothless thought for a moment.

" _If the great hall is as big as I think… about two or three of those, more or less._ " Hicca went wide-eyed, and Astrid too after she told her the scale of the beast. They sat for a while, thinking about what to do with the dragons and their queen.

"… As terrifying as the thought of facing a dragon of that size is," Hicca started, "I know that we're not the only ones to be raided by the dragons. Taking out the queen will free the dragons, and make the archipelago much easier to live in." The dragons immediately began to protest, their excuses varying from "too dangerous" to "impossible". Toothless roared to quiet them, and Hicca quickly thanked him before continuing. "Dangerous, yes, unlikely, definitely, worth it, more than anything," she said. "I don't want a tyrant glutton any more than you do, and we have the chance to get rid of her. She has the same weaknesses as any other dragon, and we can exploit them to gain an advantage. We can do this, and for the sake of dragons and Vikings to come, we will do this." She turned to Astrid. "Leave the baggage for a while, we have something to do before we leave." They made a plan of attack in the cove and flew out after everything was prepared.

The flight to the nest was tense and quiet, the only sound to be heard was that of dragon wings and breathing. They arrived at the island within the hour to a horrid sight: ships reduced to cinders, Viking corpses impaled on their own defenses, burned to ashes and charcoal, the smell of burning and rotten meat clotting the noses of everyone flying.

"Gods…" Hicca breathed. "… They didn't know what hit them." She looked around trying to count the bodies, but while the number was great, over half of the island was left by her count. 'The rest must be hiding, thinking of a way to escape without ships.' The thought encouraged her as she and everyone else landed in a clear area before an enormous cave entrance. The dragons were skittish and constantly shuffled in place.

"Whatever happens, don't let her into your head," Hicca instructed. "If she succeeds, this is over. We can't let her win. Ready?" The dragons gathered their courage and nodded in turn. Astrid covered her ears as every one of them inhaled and let out a screeching challenge into the cave. A rumbling was heard after a few moments, and the angry queen began moving into the light. A bug-like trilling filled the air, and the dragons began shaking their heads and roaring, Toothless included. Hicca felt a heavy fog descending over her mind, but one thing stuck in her thoughts: distract the queen.

She built up gas and shot a ball of Night Fury devastation into the eyes of the queen. The fog was ripped away, and the dragons stopped their attempts to get away from the queen's influence. Said monster was shaking her head and blinking, trying to clear smoke from her eyes. Hicca didn't give her the chance and fired off another shot as she lifted away from the ground. Astrid was riding on the back of the Nadder as she took off as well, and was clinging to her ride for dear life as all of the dragons began firing at the eyes and nose of the queen. She whispered to the Nadder when she saw the wings of the queen, and she was dropped on her back with her ax while her dragon flew to resume the assault.

The queen shook and howled with rage, incredulous that such tiny things thought they could defeat her. To make some space, she stoked her blaze and unleashed it upon the pests that flew around her. She stopped suddenly with a screech, feeling a sharp pain in her wings. She spread them to dislodge the thing that hurt her but regretted this when Hicca tore through her wing membrane in a long slash, parting one of them in two, and grounding her. The queen was blind with fury and spun around in a circle as she breathed fire, tail swinging wildly to try and catch any dragons.

The air itself was charring in the heat, and combined with the smoke, Astrid was having a difficult time breathing. Her breaths were ragged and interrupted by constant coughing. Her body quit after only a minute of enduring the heat, and she fell unconscious, limp on the bloody back of the queen.

Hicca saw her slipping off of her dangerous perch, and dove after her sliding form. She caught Astrid and quickly flew her outside of the smoke to rest. Her skin was red and black from the fire and smoke, blistered in a few places from where a flame had touched her. She was alright at the moment, but she'd need help later. She used the calm moment to think of her next attack.

The dragons kept their distance from the whirling queen but dived in for the attack when she stopped from exhaustion, keeping her blind and angry. Toothless flew by her right sight, and slashed out all three of her eyes, making the queen screech in pain as blood gushed from the wounds. Hicca flew in at this moment and did the same thing to her other side. As the queen gave an even louder declaration of pain, Hicca flew in front of her, and charged a shot, releasing it into the roof of her mouth, firing twice more in the same spot.

The queen was blind, and couldn't breathe from the smoke of Hicca's attack. Any opening of her mouth was met with another shot to the weakening space in the roof of her mouth, and she was tired of it. She kept her teeth closed as she gathered the last of her gas in her mouth, but couldn't even scream as it was ignited by another dragon, backfiring into her belly, setting her insides aflame. Something dug at one of her damaged eyes as she roasted, and felt bolts of fire lancing through the socket. Eventually, one pierced through the skull behind it and reduced the brain inside to cinders. The queen fell forward; dead, eyeless, and burning.

Hicca breathed hard in the foul air near the burned eye socket, panting from the exertion and effort of taking down the queen.

"Is… anyone hurt?" she asked between breaths. The tired dragons responded no and followed Hicca as she began stumbling towards where she had left Astrid. The smoke and fog surrounding the island began to dissipate as the group reached the Viking, and Hicca explained what had happened after dropping off Astrid to rest.

"We really did it," Astrid wheezed, voice scratchy and quiet from the smoke. "To be honest, I almost lost hope a little before passing out. I'm glad I was wrong."

"So am I," responded Hicca, who stood up with a groan. "Now let's get out of here, before the villagers-" she stopped when she saw silhouettes of Vikings walking through the mist, the largest at the head. The crowd was revealed with weapons in hand. Their expressions warned of bloody murder.

"Chief Stoick," Astrid tried to yell, but it came out at normal volume, and sent her into a coughing fit. None of the villagers heard her over the sound of their hateful thoughts, and they advanced slowly towards the outnumbered dragons. Hicca walked to the front of the group to meet her father, garnering gasps and shouts of surprise from the villagers, and getting more when she spoke.

"Chief Stoick, these dragons and myself are neither a threat to you nor a part of the force that laid waste to your ships and people. Before any rash moves are made, I request that we are allowed to leave peacefully. Be warned, any attacks will force us to defend ourselves." The murmurings and whispers stopped when Stoick raised his hand and stepped closer to Hicca. She only now realized just how big she'd gotten, with Stoick's head hardly coming to her shoulder.

"Not a threat you say?" he asked, anger rolling off of him like a thunderhead. "Not the ones that attacked us? We're Vikings, you're dragons. Whether one of us hit first doesn't matter. Three hundred years and countless Viking lives won't be forgotten. We will not turn a blind eye to a few 'peaceful' dragons, and let them escape." Hicca met glare with glare, and responded with as much anger and strained patience as her father.

"I'm not asking you to forget or forgive, as nice as it would be for you to do both. Let us not forget that Vikings have murdered **thousands** of dragons, hmm? We both have a reason to grudge, dad, the **least** you can do is what you've always done: ignore your burden of a daughter one last time." Stoick's brow knit together, and he looked more carefully at the dragon before him. He finished at her eyes and saw his daughter staring back at him with the fire of dragons and forges. He almost buckled under the revelation, but caught himself, and gazed at his transformed daughter with wide eyes.

"No… NO!" he bellowed. "YOU ARE NOT MY DAUGHTER! IT ISN'T POSSIBLE!" The Vikings wondered if their chief had gone mad since he was talking to a dragon. "HOW DARE YOU MOCK THE LIKENESS OF MY DAUGHTER?! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, DEMON!" Hicca looked at her father for a long moment, the air about her silent, before spreading her wings.

"Fine. You should be thanking me by the way," she added. "Now you won't have a disappointment in your house. Goodbye, Stoick, pray to Odin we never meet again." Hicca launched into the sky, the others following behind her. The tears blowing away in the wind were unseen by everyone.


	6. A Home Fit For a Goddess

Three days after flying from the nest found Hicca and company sitting around a campfire on a sea stack, resting between island hops and wondering where they were going. They'd found a few islands by now, but they were either "not right" according to Hicca or already inhabited by very territorial dragons. They were getting tired, and Astrid had about had it with roasted fish. The fire was kicked out, Astrid mounted Stormfly (A name that was given to the Nadder two days ago which she'd liked), and they flew off for what felt like the hundredth time in search of a home.

What had everyone worried the most was Hicca's silence. She'd been flying ahead of the group during the trip, not talking to anyone when they rested, and ignored even her mate so far, a fact that stung the Night Fury. She was so distracted by her thoughts that she only responded to a shout, and finally noticed the approaching island.

The mound of mountains and forest was beautiful to look at and lacked the appearance of a claimed island from this distance: no scorch marks, no dug out caves, no collapsed land from tunneling. Rivers ran from somewhere in the mountains and met in a large lake in the center of a small plane, which itself poured into the sea. Hicca also caught the scent of metals from the mountains and wondered what types they held.

"Before we all get excited," she reminded everyone, "we have to check if any parts of this belong to someone else." They grumbled an agreement and flew top various points on the isle to call out dragons with their roars. When no one responded, they excitedly found their own nests in their new home. Hicca selected a high cave with a great view of the plane and ocean and made a few quick modifications to the structure by flattening the floor using her fire, and clawing out doorways to be easier to enter for Toothless. When she finished, it was definitely livable. Toothless arrived a little later with fish for dinner and was impressed with Hicca's work in such a short time.

Hicca smiled at her mate, and they split the pile in half between them. Halfway through the meal, Hicca felt her stomach twist, and her throat ran dry, sending her into a coughing fit. Toothless tried to ask what was going on but was interrupted by a collapsing Hicca. He caught her, and went into a full-on panic mode, running possibilities through his head as he tried to figure out what was wrong. His pacing and nervous cooing were interrupted by a sharp crack. He whirled to face his mate.

Hicca's body was shifting before his eyes, changing drastically in a very short time. Her limbs and wings lengthened and grew thicker, and she became more "sturdy" than she was previously. She shed all of her scales and had a new set grow underneath, larger and rougher than the scales Toothless wore, as well as knobby red spikes. She also gained more head flaps, and now looked as though she was wearing a crown. While her mate didn't witness the last change, she also gained two new sets of eyes, right next to the originals.

Hicca woke up slowly, and she felt very strange when she finally regained consciousness. She could swear she was dreaming, but her pounding headache disproved that.

" _Hicca!_ " Toothless said loudly from her doorway, making her wince. He quieted down to ask her, "Are you alright?"

"I think?" she said uncertainly. "My head's being split open, and I feel odd all over. What happened?"

" _You collapsed, and changed a lot while you were passed out,_ " he replied, prompting her to look at herself.

"Oh… that's strange," she said, prompting Toothless to snort. "It is, and there's no point getting worked up about this. Might as well see what else has changed." Hicca made sure to go slowly as she got up, much to the worry of her mate, and walked to the door to try out her new body. She spread her wings when she got to the ledge, and even though she was actually bigger than before (matching the size of Toothless now if she got on hands and knees), her wings had grown proportionally, and now seemed bigger to her.

"Bigger wings, bigger muscles, better start with a glide," she mumbled and dove forward off the ledge to gain some speed. She first noticed that she didn't feel heavier, and in fact, flew faster than before, her enormous wingspan helping her to get large amounts of air beneath her wings. After a few minutes of flying, she got the hang of moving through the air for the second time and went back to the cave to work in her forge and brainstorm, the two going hand in hand after years of practice with Gobber.

She got a few clumps of metal together, gathered them in a large stone bowl, and nearly blew the roof of the mountain off with an explosion of far too much dragon fire.

" _AAAAHH! WHAT WAS THAT?! ARE THERE DRAGONS ATTACKING?! WHY'S THERE FIRE EVERYWHERE?! HIIICCCAAAA!_ " Toothless ran around wildly, trying to figure out what had just happened, and eventually found a blinking Hicca sitting stunned in her smithy.

"Was… was that you?" he asked hesitantly.

"Apparently," she said, "I have a new fire. I'll try not to do that again, Toothless." Toothless looked at her funny for a moment, but shook his head and walked off. Hicca dusted herself from the soot and tried to figure out why she'd exploded.

"Maybe…" she thought and tried to use Night Fury fire. A small jet of blue flames leaped from her mouth. She tried to repeat the blast from a moment ago with far less gas and got a dancing orange flame in her maw. "That looks like… the queen," she interrupted herself, getting such a shock that she widened all six eyes, and promptly confused herself utterly until she closed them, and tried to open them one by one. "Yup, I definitely got all of this from the queen. How though? It's not like I slept with the worm." She thought about the problem for a while and chalked it up to inhaling the smoke and ash of the queen. The extra eyes were surprisingly helpful, especially when she moved them independently, allowing her to look at her work and the objects around her simultaneously. "Thank Odin I didn't get her tail… or her nose," Hicca thought, melting down the lumps of metal with a combination of fire. Later that night, Hicca walked into her and Toothless' bedroom and saw him waiting for her.

" _Hicca, I wanted to talk to you,_ " he said, pausing briefly as he wondered which set of eyes to look into. " _I'm hesitant to ask this, but are you alright? We've only been here a short time, but you're still distant after we left the nest. Is everything okay?_ " Her ears flattened, and she looked at the floor.

"Not… not quite yet, Toothless. I'm still trying to accept the fact that I'm never going back to Berk. I hated it, and gods know it hated me, but it was what I knew. I miss Gobber, and the calm moments I had alone when nobody judged me, and… my dad. Him I've been missing for a while though, so it's nothing new… but now I know I won't see him again without an ax in my face. It's just… different." She leveled all six of her eyes at Toothless two, a somewhat pleading look in them. "The best I can do is adapt," she said, gaining a smile, "and the best you can do is not change. Don't stop panicking at loud noises, or annoying me when I overwork, or bugging me when you're bored. Stopping any of that would bring about the end of the world for sure, and nobody wants that. Now get on your backside, I'm tired." They both chuckled at this as he obeyed, and they shared a kiss before going to sleep.

"Yes, my queen," he whispered in her ear.

The rising sun revealed the two dragons on an early flight in the crisp morning air, a look of happiness about them. Their bellies were full of fish caught in the dark, and they planned to spend the day being free from secrecy and Vikings, enjoying each other. They were interrupted by a bright blue and yellow intruder with a blond on her back, and they grudgingly hovered to receive their news.

"Firstly, that's a good look for you," Astrid said, her appreciative eye roaming Hicca for a moment. "Secondly, we have a problem." One pair followed the other into the mountains and came across hot water pools full of large eggs.

"Okay, we've got eggs that are from bigger dragons, and an apparent hatchery nestled in the mountains. Other than missing parents, what is the problem? They haven't bothered us thus far if they've been here, and I can talk us out of conflict if they're angry."

" _Hicca, they're all from one dragon,_ " Stormfly said, prompting her to sniff the air. Only her group and another dragon met her nose.

"How can one dragon lay so many eggs of this size?" she wondered, slightly worried.

" _It smells like an alpha,_ " stated Toothless, glancing around cautiously. " _That might explain it._ "

" _It certainly would,_ " said a new voice, loud and deep. They spun towards the source and faced what could only be called a dragon goddess. She looked like the mother of the Red Death, with eight eyes and six wings, yet she lacked battle scars or any imperfections at all. She was also trim, as opposed to the sluggish folds of the queen they'd defeated. " _It's been a long time, even for me, since I've seen my children upon this island,_ " she said, voice booming even with her low volume. " _Longer still since I've seen one of my finest. Come forward, dragon of darkness, and tell me of your journey._ " Toothless appeared hypnotized by her but shook his head when Hicca placed her hand on his side. The giant suddenly looked at her. " _You are neither dragon, nor human, but can resist my control? Your story I prefer to hear._ "

"Do that to my mate again, and you'll hear the sound of my fire instead," Hicca replied with force, a pressure building around her, weighing down the others around her. "But I'll indulge you. It starts on Berk, an island twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death…" She told her story in full, from her time since she could remember as a human baby, to the present day where she was a half dragon and fully grown. The goddess was rapt with attention, along with the others who hadn't heard this before, and she finished after one or two hours.

" _What a tale… what a story!_ " the dragon appeared delighted by Hicca's words, a smile lighting up her face. " _I haven't had a story such as that in years! Thank you for sharing it, Hicca, truly. In return for the retelling of your marvelous journey, I will grant you one thing that you desire. What shall that be?_ "

"I wish to be able to make peace between mankind and dragons, so that we may move past bloodshed," she answered after a moment. The queen chuckled.

" _A noble thought, but you already can. Perhaps you could try again?_ " Hicca was confused slightly and thought longer.

"Then… I wish to know the secrets of metal, and be able to find it anywhere."

" _Hmm… a challenge I shall enjoy,_ " said the goddess, closing her eyes. A boom sounded from one of the pools behind them, and on turning Hicca found a large book, bound in stone with pages of leather, sitting beside one of the now steaming pools. " _That is the book of the Viking god of the forge. Read it, and both of your wishes shall be granted. I ask that you keep my presence secret, and not to disturb me, but I'm glad to have met you._ " Astrid stepped up to the light gray dragon, drawing her eyes.

"Can I ask a question?" she asked politely, getting a nod. "Is there a way for me to speak with dragons like Hicca?" The goddess laughed at her question and smiled at Astrid.

" _ **That**_ _question will be answered soon enough, don't worry. Be patient, Astrid, and find the answer._ " She closed her eyes and settled further into her hollow in the mountain, still smiling as she fell asleep. Astrid was confused by her cryptic answer, but let her be. They left, Hicca carrying her book, and returned to their homes.

Hicca didn't sleep and spent the whole night flipping through the rocky tome, gazing at instructions for metals and alloys she'd never heard of, and signs to look for when trying to find ores. She memorized everything she read and began working to forge a particularly useful metal as the sun came up: titanium. By itself, it wouldn't hold an edge, but mixing it with steel would produce one of the finest sword materials imaginable. Better yet, the island had signs that it contained titanium, and Hicca knew where and how to extract it from the rock.

She flew from her home to search for the darkest mountain possible and sniffed at one of the stones on its side when she found it. 'Metal,' Hicca thought, grinning as she slashed out a ball of rock from the wall and carried it back to the cave. The book said she needed high heat to separate the metal from the stone, and worried that the stone basin beneath it would also melt or crack under the temperature required. 'Preheating the stone would prevent cracking, but it would still turn into a puddle. Maybe there's a heat-resistant coating I can use?' She checked through the book for an answer, finding a passage about the qualities of carbon (or soot) particularly useful. She coated the basin with layers of fire, scorching the inside to a pitch black bowl. Setting the ball of ore inside was like laying it in a bed of midnight, and confused Hicca's eyes. She got to work.

Her fire turned the stone from dark gray to red, and it went through many colors as it melted. It began to shift as it got bright orange, and ran like honey as it became shining yellow. 'Liquid sunlight,' Hicca thought, continuing to burn away the stone. She set a smaller bowl beside the larger, and when there was nothing solid left, she pierced the side of the bowl with a claw and watched the slag drain out. The lump of white hot metal left among the dredges was beautiful to her eyes, and she picked it up to consolidate it on the anvil. She had to keep her flames on the metal constantly so that it was workable, but managed to turn the lump into a bar, and folded it over many times to get rid of any impurities left in the metal.

Once cooled, the ingot was almost white. The metal shined like a pearl and held a limitless amount of promise. One thing that bothered Hicca was the small amount she'd gotten for all of that work; one ingot of titanium was barely enough to make gauntlets. She needed a way to get more out with less effort if she wanted to create armor.

"Perhaps a larger bowl, and more stone?" she thought. "No, too much preparation, and still not enough. Bigger, more durable… and a hole that can be plugged to let out the slag. Maybe I can build one?" Hicca's thoughts clung to this new idea. "A large metal cup hung from chains over coals. A cover on the side that slides open… yes." She spent a few hours going over the design, deciding to use steel for the body, and gathered the materials for her project.

The hill of iron set before Hicca, after her planning was finished, was almost as high as her hip. The recipe for steel required carbon to be 1/50 of the total by mass, quite a bit considering the weight difference, which she had a large bowl of soot next to the iron. Her smelting bowl was beside the two, and her anvil with her hammer sat beside that. She was ready.

Iron and soot were thrown together in the bowl, melted to a liquid by Hicca's fire and mixed by her claws, then pulled out and beaten into shape by her hammer. The thick cup slowly took shape, from a bowl on the floor to a tall one that reached her chest. When she finished, it would reach her shoulders if she stood in it. It had two circles on opposite sides and a space near the bottom that was empty. A slot of metal went over this spot and would allow her to empty the slag when she wanted.

Hicca wanted to test out her new tool and set it up over a fire pit, layering the bottom with steel and filling the space with charcoal. She also carved a track for the slag to move, a trench that pointed out of the door and into a hole in the rock some distance from the cave, coated with soot so it didn't stick. With everything prepared, she retrieved more balls of titanium ore and set them in her kiln, then lit the charcoal with her fire and managed the heat.

The coals burned white beneath the metal bowl, and the stone around the pit grew red with the heat. The layer of iron was barely intact but still protected the surrounding rock to some degree. Her idea worked. Soon she opened the gate to drain the slag from the titanium, and retrieved the glowing metal clump from the bottom of the kiln, enough to complete her armor once mixed with steel and have some left over for other uses. It took a much shorter time to mix the steel and titanium together than to gather the both of them, and the end product of over two-hundred ingots of alloy metal was worth it.

" _Hicca,_ " butted in Toothless when he saw she was resting, " _You've been working on this all day, and I'm bored from snout to tail. Let's do something besides beat on some metal, huh?_ "

Hicca looked at him sideways, grin and eyebrow quirked. "Some **thing** , or some **one** my ever so burdened Night Fury?" Toothless fidgeted at the suggestion and turned away from her eyes.

" _Considering we haven't made love since before fighting the queen, I'd hazard the second option_ ," he said somewhat quietly. His mate slowly walked past him into their room, the tip of her tail dragging under his chin.

"Then we'd better make up for lost time, hadn't we?" Hicca replied huskily, luring the dragon behind her into a world of pleasure.


	7. Settling In

Hicca's walk slowly swung her hips from side to side while she moved, further enticing the love-drunk dragon behind her, and luring him deeper into the room they shared. Pheromones swam through the air in heavy waves from the both of them, washing over furs and pelts that littered the floor as a thick blanket. There was no evidence of previous fun yet, but that was soon to be remedied.

The tail under Toothless' chin suddenly whipped underneath his body and flipped him onto his back, Hicca pouncing backward to land on the soft belly she loved. The rod of dragon flesh between the cheeks of her ass twitched violently at the move, and Toothless groaned with need.

"Wow," Hicca said, grinding against the pole, and making him grow both louder and harder, "you're more backed up than I thought." She leaned down to kiss his face and neck, lapping between his scales at sensitive spots. He moaned loudly. "Can you forgive me for putting you through such agony?"

" _I'll decide after I fill you to the brim,_ " he growled, gripping her hips to stop her teasing and slowly lifting her onto his shaft.

"Hnn… mmm," she moaned, eyes closed as she bit her lip and slid down. She stopped when Toothless hit her cervix, but he gave a short thrust and buried himself to the knot inside of her. "Ah!" she cried out pleasurably as her mate went to work, bouncing Hicca on the orb of flesh near the bottom of his shaft. The wet smacks and groans filled the cave with a symphony of pleasure. It didn't take long for Toothless to stretch her entrance enough for his knot to enter. One moment it was outside begging for entrance, and the next it was widening Hicca's vent with its size.

"Oh gods!" she yelled, immediately coming to orgasm. She was denied a break, and her moans constantly heightened in pitch as Toothless worked towards his own release. She fondled the mounds on her chest, adding to the pleasure despite feeling muted behind her wide chest scales. She had a thought and reached underneath them. She found her nipples and used her fingers to create even more sensation, nearly to the blackout point of pleasure. Toothless next move teetered her on the edge of just that.

" _Here it comes,_ " Toothless warned moments before giving a screech and slamming his hips into Hicca's, knot swelling and shaft pumping. He didn't stop his thrusting, however, and used his larger size to pleasure Hicca even more, stretching her hole even wider. She screamed as this happened, another orgasm intertwined with the one she was already having, and her sight going dark from the overload. She was still conscious and felt every drop of Toothless' cum distend her stomach to the point of pregnancy. " _You're… still awake?_ " he panted. " _The last time… I… did this… you were out… like a candle._ "

"Just… barely," she answered, slumped over. "I was… almost to… that point. You… mentioned filling me… to the brim?" She felt and prodded her stomach. "I think… I can fit a… little more."

" _You asked… for it,_ " he said while grinning, jerking his still-inflated dick from the inside of her sealed stomach. Their fluid dripped down the whole length of the purple organ, a lube that he put to use in her rear. She gasped as she was made to work around a fully inflated knot, and let loose her loudest moans yet when she finally popped it in. Toothless gave Hicca's rear the same treatment as her vagina and worked her loose with a full knot. Hicca was beyond moaning now, her lolling tongue and rolled eyes indicating how close she was to passing out entirely. She somehow didn't, despite going through the second round with her dragon, and felt everything as Toothless came closer to orgasm, dragging Hicca with him.

He physically couldn't get any bigger than he already was when he came, but Hicca managed to clench around him just enough to seal up around him, and took everything he had. Her panting became more ragged with every spurt of dragon seed into her gut, and her stomach expanded from its already pregnant look to seeming like she was on the verge of having twins. Hicca felt that she'd been filled up to her throat with cum, a minor miracle that it hadn't come out her mouth. Toothless had one final thing to do before he let her rest, and pulled his still full knot from her ass. He walked around her exhausted form and stood in front of his mate, erection still at full mast and covered in both of their juices, but more so than before.

" _I said… I'd fill you… to the brim,_ " he said, out of breath but still able to talk clearly. " _From the… looks of it… you have… some room left… and there's one hole… I haven't used. Open wide, Hicca._ " His mate slowly sat on her knees, enormous belly groaning at every movement, and did as he'd commanded. She opened her mouth as wide as she could and began taking him into her maw, lapping up and swallowing all of the fluids she encountered. Hicca stopped only when her lips were firm against Toothless' knot, and his tip was pressing down into the top of her stomach. She went slowly with her bobbing, catching her breath and enjoying the moment at the same time, and drew out the action for as long as possible. After two orgasms, however, Toothless' stamina was very low, and it didn't take long for the last warning to be issued.

" _I'm really close, Hicca,_ " he warned, breath getting just a bit faster. She went slower to push him even further to the limit. As she reached his tip again, she pushed her head forward suddenly and gave a powerful suck. Toothless was over his threshold immediately and pressed her head on more firmly with his paws as he screeched his last orgasm. The pressure was enormous on her stomach, but she didn't allow any of her mate's seed to escape her. She finally couldn't hold it in, and the excess gushed from her ass like a spring. Toothless held himself down her throat until his flood slowed, and pulled himself out of Hicca's mouth tiredly, his last few spurts painting her face and torso white and dripping down her huge belly.

" _There,_ " he said, " _I've filled… you to… the brim…_ " Hicca panted on the floor, surrounded by, filled with, and covered in her mate's love juices. She couldn't speak or move, and weakly patted the furs behind her. Luckily Toothless knew what she wanted, and laid against Hicca's back, pulling her close as they sunk into a deep sleep.

Hicca woke up the next morning sore all over and still blown up like a gassy Terror. She smiled as she remembered the night before, and scratched the dragon that laid her into oblivion. She stood up from the stained furs and passed out lizard to drain herself, groaning with pain and pleasure as her movement worked sore muscles and sloshed her stomach contents around. Stumbling over to the hole, she spied the pile of amalgam ingots through the door to her shop, shining with a dull light and begging to be turned into art. First, however, she needed to drain herself, and then get some breakfast.

Half an hour later, she'd completed both tasks, and decided that her mate deserved to sleep a bit longer before she got to work again, and so laid down in Toothless' embrace again, slowly going back to sleep as she was lulled by his breathing. She started when he moved to get up a few hours later and yawned as he kissed her good afternoon before leaving to get his own breakfast. Hicca walked to her workshop and began constructing her armor.

She planned out her approach to making the armor, deciding to first make the plates that would cover her major areas (wrists, chest, upper and lower legs, helmet, etcetera), and then fill in the empty spaces with a dragon scale patterned mail. Hours passed without Hicca's notice as she heated and hammered the metal to form, the roughly finished pieces somehow holding the last of their glow after she dropped them into a tank of water. Chest, pauldron, bracer, and more were beaten to shape, each piece a rough glimpse of the finished set. When the last piece of the armor was complete, she tried to smooth it with a piece of rough granite but found that it wasn't hard enough. The armor would have to wait until she could find a stone hard enough to scratch it away. In the meantime, she heated up a few ingots, and cut out as many scale-shaped pieces as she could for the mail, and more ingots were turned into small chain links. Then came the long process of assembly. The first pieces of metal scales were attached to certain points on the solid pieces of armor and then to each other with the chain pieces.

The almost finished result was beautiful: a dark, rough visage that made even it's creator a bit nervous just looking at it. It looked like a combination of Roman and Japanese armor styles, the only thing even remotely Viking about it was the shape of the mail. It was light for its size, hardly weighing enough to lower Hicca's one arm that held the whole set, and yet she had some difficulty scratching at it with her claws, and it didn't bend under a blow from her hammer.

"If it weren't so prone to getting stuck, I'd leave it just like this," she thought out loud, running her hands over the metal. "That get's me back to my problem though: what can I use to smooth over a metal this hard? I don't know of a harder metal, maybe a type of gem? What gem is very hard? Rubies for one, sapphires are a type of ruby so they're the same. Diamonds would be ideal, but I don't have the time to look for or buy them…" she thought on the problem, then perked up. "Wait a minute, obsidian is as hard or more so than diamond, and can be found near volcanoes! I can fly to the nest of the – now dead – queen, and harvest some from the mountain, then come back and finish up my armor." She informed Toothless where she would be and left immediately for the island.

The return trip didn't take her more than a hard day of flying, and she only had to rest a few times during her flight. Hicca hadn't realized just how close she was to the island until now. She arrived when the moon was high above her, a shining crescent that revealed a creepy view. The Island still glowed near the top and from the caves, seeming to bleed from wherever the light could be seen. Even without dragons, this place was forbidding. Hicca put her nose to the grindstone and began searching high and low for the black glass she came for. Bits and pieces were strewn about in the rockface, but nothing was even large enough to fit in her palm. When the cliffs yielded nothing, she tried the interior of the volcano, reasoning that her scales would serve to defend her from lava just as well as when they'd belonged to the red death. Again and again, she found only pieces venturing down deeper and deeper into the heat and sulfur-scented fumes of the mountain.

Hicca finally was rewarded with some good fortune: a chunk of obsidian that was more than enough for her buried shallowly into the wall. She was about to begin extracting it when she heard something from below that broke the rumbling monotony of the lava. A scratching clack, somewhere nearby. She flapped her wings to peel away from the rock and glided downwards to investigate. The bottom wasn't like she expected, a pool of red-hot rock boiling and swirling; instead, it was a flat arena of sorts, made of rock and having lava vents pool in from the walls and down into a flat expanse covered in holes. Something skittered from one of the holes, dark and quicker than the eye, vanishing into a hole in the wall before Hicca could get a good look at it.

"What the…" she muttered, narrowing her eyes as she slowly approached. The hole was deep and dark, but she could make out a pair of beady green eyes in the gloom. "Hello, my name is Hicca. If you come out to meet me, we could have a proper introduction. I'm not going to hurt you." Whatever it was, it blinked at her slowly, almost lazily.

" _If something hides from an intruder, it usually doesn't want to be found,_ " it replied, a dragon if the language was any indication. " _But I'll indulge you_. _I've heard your name before, Hicca. The dragons that abandoned this island of slavery rambled at length before they left, praising you for freeing them from the queen. I was never anywhere near them or your battle, but I was suspicious nonetheless. So, I burrowed in here to wait out the frenzy, relaxing once it got quiet. What have you returned for, if I might ask?_ "

"A type of stone that will help me with something I'm working on. I know where to find it now, and my tinkering can wait, I still want to see you. Can you please come into the light?" He went quiet for a moment, then huffed.

" _You'll regret this request, Hicca, but I'll show you my face anyways._ " He walked forward, slowly revealing a dragon that Hicca had never seen before. The first thing she noticed was the lack of scales anywhere on his long and eel-like body. He shined in the orange light though, like he was coated in something cold and slick. He lacked wings and claws, even legs; instead, he had four long tendrils where legs should be and an uncountable number of much longer ones on his back. The only distinction between his feet and the tentacles on his back were location and the suckers that coated his bottom four like barnacles. His back tentacles moved erratically, as though they were seaweed dancing in ocean currents. His face was stranger than the rest of his body put together: more tendrils waved underneath his chin and crested his crown in place of horns. He yawned, and Hicca saw that his mouth was filled with three incredibly long needle-like tongues, and row upon row of hooked, shark-like teeth that faced inward to his gullet.

" _So now you've seen me,_ " he said, breaking Hicca from her thoughts. He seemed ashamed, embarrassed, broken, not looking at Hicca as he talked. " _A monster among dragons. A parasite, an eel, a squid._ "

"What are you talking about?" she asked, surprising him enough to look Hicca in the eye, "I'm looking at a cleverly adapted dragon that can't stop staring at the floor, not a monster. I'll admit that your appearance surprised me, but you're not as bad as you make yourself sound."

" _Really?_ " he asked sarcastically. " _A blood drinking, slimy, terrifying dragon the size of a sheep isn't so bad?"_

"Nope," Hicca stated firmly. "And no matter what you try to say, I'm not changing my opinion on the matter. So far, you've given me quite a bit about your past: hiding away, running from other dragons – likely because they chased you off – feeding on blood, and having a low opinion of yourself from all of that. You drink blood, so what? If you need that to live, it's not my place to judge you for trying to survive." Silence filled the cave after her declaration.

" _You… really think like that? How are you so optimistic, so trusting?_ " he asked.

"I don't know, but I do know that nobody should be ostracized for trying to live. I'm going to get my stone that I came here for and fly back to my island. Stay here, follow me, whatever you like, just know that there's plenty of room for you." She spread her wings and flew back to the ball of obsidian lodged in the cave wall. Two minutes or rock bits tumbling into the dark later, the stone was free, and Hicca began flying up and out of the volcano.

" _Wait!_ " the dragon below called out, stopping Hicca in her tracks. " _I want to come with you!_ " She smiled at the dragon and glided down to grab him. She thought he would be difficult to carry, but he just wrapped his "feet" around her and was stuck fast in moments, out of the way of Hicca's wings and arms. They flew out of the mountain together and were soon headed straight back to Hicca's island.

"You never told me your name," Hicca said during their flight, "what is it?"

" _My name is… Kyttal,_ " he answered.

"You're going to love the island, Kyttal, I guarantee it." They were both smiling for the rest of the journey.

* * *

 **Hello dear readers. I'm terribly sorry for the long wait on this chapter, and I apologize that such long times between chapters are probably going to be regular from now on. Between busy weekends and figuring out a ton of personal things, I couldn't find a scrap of time or inspiration to type out anything more than a few sentences at a time. I'll try my absolute hardest to give you all quality content in a timely manner, and I'm sorry once again that it takes so long to make.**

 **Until next chapter,**

 **-Jyx**


	8. Finding A New Friend

**So I had a stroke of inspiration, and got this chapter out way ahead of when I expected. Merry Christmas, happy Hanukah, yaddah yaddah, you're welcome, see you in the next chapter.**

* * *

Their flight to Hicca's home was short, but she later admitted to interrogating Kyttal while he couldn't escape, finding out what he needed and what would make his stay more comfortable, though getting that information was quite tough.

" _Hicca,_ _ **please**_ _stop trying to question me!_ " he begged. " _At this point, I'd rather take you up on that offer to drop me like a sack of rocks into the ocean than answer_ _ **even more**_ _of your questions!_ "

"One, no you wouldn't," Hicca sassed back to his whining, "and two, I've only asked a few questions, which I'm almost done asking. I'm trying to figure out where best to put you when we arrive on the island. So, do you like heights?"

" _No,_ " he huffed, " _I can't fly, so heights are dangerous for me._ "

"Do you like wet or dry places?"

" _A perfect spot would be a lake in a cave or a damp hole at the very least. Somewhere wet and dark._ "

"We've already established that you drink blood, specifically from dragons, so how much do you need to live?"

" _If we're talking about a full meal, I'd kill a Terror for sure and need a second, but if I were to drink yours you'd just feel woozy for a few hours. A Nightmare probably wouldn't notice any difference._ "

"Alright, so we need somewhere wet in a cave, and accessible to medium or large dragons. Does it matter if the water is fresh or stagnated?"

" _I'd need new water at some point depending on the size of the hole, but I can live in still water._ "

"I've got the perfect spot for you when we… well, what do you know?" Hicca said, immediately coming up on the island. "What timing!"

" _Wait…_ " Kyttal said, narrowing his eyes, " _… you were just circling the island until I told you what you needed, weren't you?_ "

"I haven't got a clue what you're talking about, Kyttal; it was just good timing," Hicca replied, trying to keep a smile off of her face.

" _You are now my least favorite anything to ever help me,_ " he said, eyes narrowed in mock anger. As they descended, a thought occurred to him. " _Where exactly is this perfect spot by the way?_ "

"A sort of water filled basement to my house," Hicca answered, quickly adding on, "It's better than I make it sound, and I promise you'll love it. It also makes it convenient for me to be nearby when you need to eat, or need some help."

" _We didn't agree with me drinking your blood!_ " he said loudly, freaking out that Hicca had planned for him to take her blood. " _I thought I'd be near bigger dragons so that my eating wouldn't harm anybody!_ "

"Trust me, you won't harm a thing by drinking my blood," she soothed, coming to land outside of her cave. "I know my own limits, I'm strong, and I can replace my blood a lot quicker than you may expect. Don't worry so much Kyttal, I'm certain everything will be alright." She smiled at him as she walked into the partial darkness of the cave, and through a small doorway to her smithy to drop off the obsidian, then through a rough hole in the wall that led down into near-perfect darkness. "I found this room after noticing odd echoes in the rock, and trying to find a wall thin enough for me to bust open and get down here. I've been using it as a private pool and relaxation area, but it will be better used as your home. Plus, it's big enough that we can both use it at the same time."

" _How big is this place if it can fit a giant dragon lady and then some_?" he asked, but was silenced by the sight of the pool. The only place Hicca could stand and not get wet was a small area in front of the doorway, but the rest of the enormous room was filled with water. One large hole in the far wall let in a stream of water into the small lake, and a large crevice to one side let the overflow leave the pool and travel into the dark abyss of unexplored caves. Glowing crystals littered the ceiling like blue stars and illuminated the darkly-colored floor of the water. The view was so odd from this angle that it looked as if Hicca had a doorway leading to a piece of the ocean at midnight.

"I know," Hicca said quietly, breaking the awed silence, "it's beautiful. It's honestly one of my favorite places to be." She set Kyttal down by the shore of the miniature lake and began walking into the water with a smile on her face. He followed soon after, discovering that the water was only cool, and not freezing like most water in caves. He felt instantly rejuvenated when he started swimming through the crystal water, his tendrils brightening with a fresh coating of thin slime, and his skin glossing like a fish's back. He darted about the place, searching every crack, crevice, and any hole he could find.

Eventually, they met back towards the middle of the lake and relaxed on a small island that rested there, admiring the cave. Kyttal's stomach chose that moment to rumble, and he looked at Hicca embarrassedly.

" _I'm sorry to ask this when we've only just started relaxing, but I haven't had blood in a while, and I'm getting hungry._ " She waved him off.

"You don't have to apologize for that, it's just a part of you being alive. Just tell me what I need to do."

" _Whichever part of you that you don't mind having pierced, just get it close to my face and don't move it,_ " he instructed, receiving the back of Hicca's hand. He opened his maw, and immediately his three tongues darted out to coat a small patch of scaled skin with saliva. Those parts went numb, and soon after were punctured by the pointed tips of the tongues. Kyttal began swallowing, and his tongues swelled up slightly, filling with blood if Hicca was to guess. Hicca began feeling a bit dizzy after a moment and neared a drunken stupor after a full minute. He stopped when she kept leaning back and forth a bit too much, and retracted his tongues with a squelch, smacking his lips after he was done.

" _I'm sorry if I took a bit much from you, Hicca, but your blood is the most delicious I've ever tasted,_ " he praised, tendrils lively and active with new food. He looked at Hicca worriedly when she only smiled at him and began leaning forward. " _Hicca?_ "

"You're… the sexiest dragon… I've ever seen… besides my mate…" she slurred, barely able to get words out. "I bet… doing it with you… is the best time… anyone… could ever have…" Kyttal turned bright green with blush, backing away from the drunk dragoness.

" _Definitely a mistake to take so much the first time,_ " he said to himself, turning to swim away and escape, but getting caught by a surprisingly quick hand.

"Where are you going?" Hicca asked. "The fun's… just getting started!" Unfortunately for Kyttal, Hicca knew dragon bodies like the back of her hand and would figure out his in no time. On the plus side, he was guaranteed to enjoy anything that was coming. He allowed himself to be dragged backward by Hicca, and despite himself, was getting aroused. He figured

'If she wants it, I may as well satisfy her quickly and get it over with. In which case, I better pull out all the stops and apologize later if it's necessary. Hope her mate doesn't mind.' Decision made, Kyttal turned around to face Hicca, and focused on his tentacles, rearing them up and preparing them to please the dragoness into oblivion. The first thing he did was pull her arms and legs out wide so that she couldn't hurt herself or him and coated her nether regions with a generously thick layer of his slime. She moaned while he did this, squirming about and proving tough to hold down. He began to worry about her mate discovering them, and so put one of his tendrils to use occupying her mouth then pushing it deep for good measure. Her muffled moans increased; apparently, she enjoyed having things down her throat.

'All the better to finish her quick,' he thought, cutting the foreplay short and getting down to business. He pushed one of his tentacles into her with surprising ease. Thinking she might not even feel it if it was so easy, he pushed in another, and another, stopping at an astonishing five tendrils penetrating her womb. Kyttal then tried to reach her furthest depths, and so kept pushing his tentacles deeper. He felt around and found two tunnels on either side of her innermost chamber, which stopped at two rounded pieces he didn't know the purpose of.

Regardless, he began twisting and wriggling the entirety of all of his tentacles, making Hicca moan even louder, and even squirm until she was on her stomach. Her tailhole was puckered tight with all of the pleasure she was experiencing, and Kyttal had another idea. He mounted Hicca's raised backside and buried his foot and a half of flesh into that pucker, sliding in easily with his natural lube and pointed cock. She got louder again, and he added another tentacle to her throat to silence her. Kyttal wondered if she'd be able to take even more tentacles and decided to find out. He stuffed her with a sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth before he stopped at ten, discovering a smaller hole towards her front.

'What is this?' he asked himself, slowly pressing his tentacle into new places. She began moaning yet louder, still muffled by the two tentacles in her mouth, so Kyttal knew Hicca was enjoying this new sensation and continued feeding his length into this hole, stopping when he hit a wall and pleasuring her third hole with more pistoning motions. She was incoherent at this point, pleasure almost too much for her to handle, and only able to scream in pleasure through the tentacles in her mouth and throat.

Kyttal felt his end nearing and didn't want to test his luck by blowing his load in her rear, so he pulled out at the last moment and squeezed himself until he finished on her back, wide splotches of white appearing everywhere on her after the most intense orgasm he'd ever had. Hicca still – amazingly – hadn't finished yet, and so he began putting tendril into her rear to take up the leftover space, adding just as many there as in her vagina.

However, without a womb to stop their penetration, these went deeper than any living thing had ever touched and were so numerous that Hicca's stomach began to distend noticeably. He only realized what he'd done when his tentacles on the opposite side made contact; Hicca was speared on his tentacles, one end to the other. He had to admit that seeing a flood of tendrils push in and out of her mouth from the wrong end was extraordinarily hot.

For the big finish, Kyttal grunted with effort and suspended Hicca midair with her legs still spread and arms wide with her front facing him, pushing his own limits by increasing his pounding to as fast as he could go. After only a few minutes of this, Hicca finally orgasmed, splashing out over the mass of tentacles that pounded her. They didn't stop when she did though, and neither did her orgasm. Kyttal intended to make her blackout to recuperate, and so far, he seemed about to succeed. She couldn't even properly moan at this point from the overflow of sensation, and she kept squirting on the tendrils that penetrated her, only making it easier to keep up the speed that they were moving.

With one last enormous wave of sweet-smelling fluid, Hicca closed her eyes and fell unconscious. At last Kyttal stopped, panting after such monumental effort, and setting her down gently on the rock. He then retracted every one of his tentacles, trying not to wake up the quietly groaning girl, and once finished he used the same tentacles that had knocked her out to clean his cum for her back, and washing it into the lake.

When Hicca was clean, Kyttal gave a thorough examination of Hicca to make sure he hadn't been too rough and caused internal bleeding, which would be a sorry way to repay her kindness. Her womb and the small hole were fine, but there was no way to peer into her digestive tracts deepest areas from the outside. He considered his options and decided on a rather serious course of action: he would enter her entirely and search every inch of her to ensure she was alright.

'Thankfully I don't have any bones,' he thought, preparing to enter Hicca's still gaping ass. Positioning his head at her entrance, he began squeezing himself into her rear, getting his head, shoulders, torso, hips, and finally his tail inside of her. She appeared fine so far, but then he heard her mumble in her sleep, and he stopped moving. It was too late, and she began moving.

"Woah, my head…" she muttered. "What the Hel happened to Kyttal? Wait… what the Hel happened to me?" Kyttal was poked by Hicca, and it just so happened that he was ticklish in that spot, making him giggle and squirm a tiny amount.

Hicca gasped, holding her stomach, and angrily shouting. "Kyttal?! What is the meaning of this?!" From inside of her belly, the dragon responded.

" _I_ _ **really**_ _didn't want this to happen, believe me, but this situation_ _ **can**_ _be explained,_ " he said, trying to back out the way he came in, and finding that since all of his tendrils were forced in one direction and squeezed tight to his body he couldn't. " _Umm… Hicca, don't get madder, but I can't go backward._ "

"… Which end did you go in first?" she asked, teeth gritted as she tightened her abdomen.

" _Hrk! I entered through your rear!_ " he said quickly, surprised by the move, trapped to the point that he couldn't move his jaw.

"There's nothing for it but to go through the whole way then," she said resignedly. She sighed. "Come on up and try to be quick about it." What followed was ten minutes of Hicca trying not to enjoy the feeling of Kyttal climbing through her gut, and Kyttal dreading what would happen when he got out. He eventually reached her stomach, and from there it was a quick climb out of her mouth and into the open air. Kyttal plopped onto the ground and immediately spun around to face Hicca, trying to explain himself.

" _Before you get mad, or start shouting, let me explain,_ _ **please**_ _,_ " he begged. With a glare, Hicca gave her grudging permission. " _First off, you were drained of more blood than I thought, and you were – for all intents and purposes – drunk. When I finished feeding, you were woozy and leaning from side to side, and when you started talking sex I tried to swim off. You caught me, and I decided to please you to leave me alone. Since I didn't know how long it would take for you to get your bearings, I decided to make you black out. I succeeded, but I was worried I might have been too rough and caused internal bleeding, so I checked what I could, and had to climb inside to check the rest of what I couldn't. You woke up, and now we're here._ "

Hicca thought the story was far-fetched at best, but she could read the honesty in his eyes. She sighed, "Alright, as unbelievable as that is I can tell you're speaking the truth. Still, though, how am I to explain this to Toothless?"

" _Toothless?_ " Kyttal asked, restraining a smile.

"My mate," she explained, seeing his smile. "And before you keep that look on your face, he's a Night Fury, and I don't know how he'll react to all of this, which I **am** going to tell him." His smile was gone in a heartbeat.


	9. Neighbors

"… and so that's all of what happened," Hicca finished, taking a breath and watching Toothless think. "Believe me, I wish it had gone another way – one that didn't end up with a dragon crawling from my mouth – but it didn't, and I can't exactly take back what happened."

" _While I'm glad that you feel the need to tell me things like this, there's really no problem,_ " Toothless said, stopping Hicca's thoughts dead. Her look of ultimate confusion was cleared as he explained, " _We're soul mates. Our hearts belong to each other, and so anything else is fair game. The only one you can receive eggs from is me, and vice versa. It's well known that soul mates often have more than one partner, and one case even said that there were as many as ten dragons sharing one nest at some point. As far as I'm concerned, nothing's wrong. Hel, do it again if you like._ "

"… Are you serious? This isn't some elaborate hoax?" She asked, still disbelieving. This was unheard of with Vikings – granted, she wasn't one at this point – and the penalty for something like what had just happened was usually an ax buried in the adulterer's skull.

" _Look it up if you like, but I'll still be safe in the knowledge that we're together, and always will be._ " Hicca's ears folded back as her heart fluttered a bit, and she gave Toothless the best kiss he'd had in weeks. As she left, he thought to himself, " _… I should say things like that more often…_ " Thus, Toothless became the first recorded dragon poet. With Hicca, she'd returned to the indoor lake, and told a relieved Kyttal what had happened.

" _You didn't tell me you guys were soul mates!_ " he said, rolling his eyes." _For one thing, belated congratulations for finding him, and for another, you telling me your situation would have solved this whole mess._ "

"I didn't know all of this about soul mates, to begin with," she protested, "since I've been immersed in dragon culture less than half a year, and Vikings don't exactly focus on finding true love."

" _Vikings?_ " he asked, confused. " _What do they have to do with anything?_ "

"Before I found Toothless, I was one," she said, making Kyttal look at her closely. "Kind of obvious since I walk on two legs and have hands."

" _Yeah, guess I should have figured out that one. Still, weird to think about you being one at some point. Maybe you could tell me the story of that adventure someday,_ " he said, laying down. " _So, now that you're a bit more informed, what happens?_ "

"I'm not sure, to be honest." Hicca thought for a moment about the whole ordeal and boiled it down to a few things: Toothless was fine with her having more than one lover, she could only have his babies, and her body was more accommodating than she'd thought. While she couldn't remember everything that Kyttal had done, she did remember enjoying it thoroughly, and he'd pushed her to blackout with his efforts, a feat only accomplished by Toothless very early in their relationship. "The more I think about it, the more I'm excited about the possibilities. For now, I'm just going to work on the project I have going, but I might come down here if I ever need to have a good time and a dip in the lake." She waved to a blushing Kyttal as she left, and climbed the stairs up to her workshop.

Now that she had obsidian, she wondered how to use it. It was too smooth to be a grindstone, and shards would be too uneven and awkward to shave off metal. Hicca then remembered sandpaper she'd once seen on trader Johann's boat and set about trying to make some out of the obsidian. She first had to turn a good portion of it into sand and dust, and sort the pieces into different sizes for different grits, and find squares of leather to glue them to. The leather was simple to get, she had plenty, and she set up a tower of sifting trays to catch the varying sizes. She shattered the block into smaller and smaller shards, sending all of it through the tower to have her grits sorted. Hicca then realized she'd forgotten glue for the leather.

"Damn. What have I got? Dragon spit, tree sap, blood maybe? All of those are messy or not permanent… hold on a second," she thought aloud, feeling the spot that had been bothering her. It was sticky, and she had to put effort into removing her hand. It was a spot where one of Kyttal's tentacles had touched. She walked down to the lake and called for the dragon.

" _Hey Hicca, what do you need?_ " He asked, swimming to the shore.

"To summarize, I need you to get your slime on a few things for me. It's a weird request, but I can't think of a better thing to use as glue." He looked at her funny.

" _My slime, glue, what are you talking about?_ "

"The project I've been talking about is a suit of armor. The metal is too hard for any normal stone to scratch, hence the obsidian, but I need it in very small pieces to use it. I can't use it like that, so I wanted to put it on leather squares, and the best thing I can think of to keep it on there is your slime since it does **this** ," she explained, ending it by sticking her hand to her side and pulling it off. "So, please, help me out?"

" _I, uh, guess?_ " he said. " _Just tell me what you want me to do._ " Kyttal followed Hicca into her workshop (which he was impressed by), and followed her instructions as he coated pieces of leather in thick slime. In turn, she turned them sticky side down into trays of shards of obsidian and set them next to her kiln to dry. They were in various shapes for each size: circles, squares, long and short rectangles, and even triangular.

"Thanks for your help, Kyttal," she said after they finished, using a damp cloth to wash her hands. "I don't know what I would have used on those otherwise. Would you like to see what they'll be polishing?" She led him over to the corner where the suit had been stored, and marveled at the craftsmanship, even if he kept his distance.

" _It's… scary,_ " he said.

"Downright terrifying if you're facing it down and I'm in it," Hicca said, grinning at his reaction. "I didn't even make it scary on purpose, just happened. Glad to see it's so effective though." It was set back down in the corner, and they moved away to continue talking.

" _What else do you plan to make?_ " Kyttal asked.

"Don't know yet beyond a few things: knife, short sword, longsword, small and large shields maybe, a few styles of ax, possibly a great shield and a great sword for kicks if I feel up to it."

" _So, a whole armory?_ " he asked. " _What do you plan to do with all of that?_ "

"Don't know right now, but I want to see what the limit of my skills are, and maybe someone else will find a use for them if I don't. It's not entirely about having a problem in mind and creating a solution, sometimes you just have an itch that only blacksmithing can scratch, and so you make something. I find that those are the best things I make when that happens. Lunch?" Hicca gave him a lift to the beach, and they swam out together to eat. Toothless joined them after a while, and they lazed on the beach in the sun, bellies full and minds at ease.

" _This really is a great home,_ " commented Kyttal, " _thank you for dragging me to it, Hicca._ "

"Not a problem. I'm happy to have done it." At that moment, the sound of dragon wings drifted over, and Hicca looked back to the center of the island to see what looked like two Nadders coming close, but one of them was shaped funny. "Wait a minute… That's a good look for you, Astrid!" she greeted, waving her now ex-Viking friend towards them. "What has you in such a hurry?"

"Hicca, we've got a problem," she said, tone worried.

" _Vikings are sailing here,_ " said Stormfly, " _A few small ships carrying close to thirty men and women._ " Everyone began getting riled up, but Hicca placated them.

"Before we start setting things on fire, we could at least try talking to them first, yeah? You three can follow Toothless and I from a distance and come to support us if we need it. Just swim for the time being and get some air before you attack if it comes down to it. Sound good?" A grumbled assent went up, and the dark pair took flight to greet the curious Vikings.

A warning cry was heard when they came into view and the sound of taught bowstrings echoed across the water.

"It would be nice of you to not shoot!" Hicca yelled down. "Allow us to get close, and no harm will come to either party. We just want to talk."

"Oh, aye, we'll let an Odin damned Nightfury and his talking wife land right on top of our heads!" came the sarcastic reply. "How in Hel are we supposed to trust you?"

"I don't know, but you better figure it out quick, because we aren't waiting for you. Clear a space, please?" Hicca asked, indicating for Toothless to follow her as she glided down. More shouting was heard, and space was quickly cleared, surrounded by swords and axes. "There," Hicca said, ignoring the weapons, "now we can talk without shouting at each other. My name is Hicca, and the big cutie next to me is Toothless. Not literally, just a name," she clarified. "Might we have the privilege of knowing the captain of this ship?"

"That would be me, lass," said an average-looking one from the back. "Name of Gilbert, son of Frederick the Wise. What exactly do you want with me?"

"To talk, Gilbert, which is quite difficult when sharp metal cuts into a conversation. I don't think the blades are necessary at this point, wouldn't you agree?" The Vikings warily sheathed their weapons and were ordered to get back to their own business by Gilbert. The three of them walked to the front of the ship to talk. "To answer your question, I don't want anything with you, save to caution you that you're sailing close to our home, and we haven't had the chance to spruce it up for guests."

"A major problem, that," he agreed, stroking his beard. "Though I don't mind a bit of mess at times. Are there others with yee? More that look like…" he gestured to all of her, "… this?"

"Just one other, and her Nadder husband. There's another dragon, but I don't know what to call him yet besides his name, and a sixth one that I'm not at liberty to talk about with you by her own request. Just know that she's a lot bigger than me and leave it at that."

"Hmm… four dragons, and two… I-don't-knows. As much as I'd like to keep your privacy, lass, we're low on supplies, and a storm caught us by surprise and dinged us up rather badly," he said, gesturing to the sail full of tears. "If you'd let us, we need to stop by for a while to patch up. We promise to stay out of your way should that be your decision."

"I gladly accept, but I need to discuss it with the others. Wait nearby for a while." She flew off to a nearby islet and waited for everyone to gather. She explained the situation when they got near enough for her to speak. "They're peaceful, and they need to land for repairs. They won't start anything if we let them stay."

" _Who's to say they won't tell others if we let them?_ " Stormfly countered. " _It's natural to spread a story like that, even if someone doesn't mean harm. I say don't let them near._ "

"That's a bit harsh, but I agree," Astrid said, standing across from Hicca. "They'll tell others if they see the island, and eventually someone who _does_ mean us harm will hear and come by to kill or capture us. I say they anchor on an islet for repairs, and they steer clear of the island."

" _Maybe they don't have to leave?_ " suggested Kyttal. " _If they want, maybe they could stay on the island and live here. It solves the problem of news getting out, and we get some neighbors. To be honest, we need more people on the island._ "

" _You just got here,_ " Toothless pointed out.

" _You didn't get here much earlier,_ " Kyttal shot back. " _At this point, I've got about as much say as the rest of you._ "

" _Fair enough,_ " Toothless admitted. " _I'll agree to whatever Hicca says, but I like Kyttal's idea. Hicca?_ "

"I'm in favor of letting them land on the island, and I'll see if they want to stay. I'll take your worries into consideration." She flapped into the air and headed back to Gilbert's ship. He was waiting for her where she'd left him. "Two of them are worried that you'll tell the rest of the archipelago if we let you land on the island, but the other three are in favor of providing you a place to stay. An interesting idea was brought up, however: one of them suggested that you stay on the island as neighbors, solving both problems, and giving us some company."

"That sounds lovely," he said, smiling. It vanished after a moment, replaced by a scowl. "Being honest, it was really pirates we ran into, and not exactly on open water. Our village is gone, and we were trying to find a new home. We're lucky that you decided not to burn us, that would have been just the thing to finish us off. If you'd be so kind, lead us to your island." Hicca did so gladly, meeting up with everyone else along the way, and they greeted the entirety of the Viking fleet on the shore of the island.

"Welcome to our island," Hicca said, throwing her arms wide. "We'll gladly help you set up houses and settle in if you want and show you the best spots for things you need."

"'Our island'?" quoted one of the sailors. "Doesn't this rock have a name?"

"Maybe you could help us come up with one?" Astrid suggested.

"Valhalla" was thrown up immediately by a few but was shot down by the others. The same story for "Paradise," "Haven," "Second Grunk," (an homage to their destroyed home) and "Trout."

"How about Dusk?" Gilbert suggested, getting nods from a good majority of people and dragons around him.

"Why that?" Hicca questioned, translating for Kyttal.

"Because it's the end of a day of suffering and promises a new day to start fresh. Plus, it sounds better than 'Dawn.'" That was unanimously agreed upon, and Dusk was christened.

* * *

 **Hello everyone. It seems I'm just spitting these out like hot pizza bites. Hope you enjoyed this surprisingly early chapter, and maybe you'll get to enjoy another one just as soon. Goodbye for now.**


	10. Preparation and Frustration

A few weeks had passed since the remains of the Torbuts had arrived on Dusk, and the babies that had come with them were beginning to grate of Hicca. Their cries interrupted her sleep, and she was getting cranky.

"We need to fix the baby problem," Hicca said to Toothless, rubbing her temples. Even now the faint sound of crying babies drifted up to their cave on a twilight wind. "I can't function with that noise."

" _Can't their mothers do something?_ "

"They've tried everything, and they're more worn out than I am. They say it's a new home with dragons that's got them riled up, and even singing them to sleep won't work."

" _Maybe if you tried singing them to sleep? You've got the voice of a siren, so you might get them tired enough to rest if you sang._ " A particularly loud wail interrupted them, and he ground his teeth together. " _But find_ something _to get them asleep!_ " It was worth a shot, so she quickly flew down to the village and told the nearest Vikings Toothless' plan. They told their neighbors and so on to spread the word, and then she began to sing. Woven between the words were the chirps and hums of dragon speak, filling her words with a subtle and indescribable power.

 _Listen closely my dears,_

 _Far away are your fears,_

 _Dusk is your new home,_

 _So worry no more._

The wailing and sniffling began to quiet as she continued, marking a victory for the half-dragoness.

 _The pirates are gone, taken into the night,_

 _They are no match for dragon fire and might,_

 _No one will harm you, to this we all swear,_

 _Scaled beasts will guard you, from the earth and the air._

 _So rest easy sweet children, be sure of your fate,_

 _This island of dragons is too strong to break,_

 _By sword ax and claw, shield wing and wall,_

 _Any pirate for miles is certain to fall…_

Silence filled the air, and the captivated Vikings that had been listening from doorways and windows sleepily went to bed themselves, nearly too tired to stand. It seems that Hicca's song had relaxed them as well. She flew back to her nest and crashed next to her already sleeping mate, immediately following him into dreams. The next morning dawned silent as well, even though the adults were up and about. When she went down to investigate the oddity, the babies' parents said that they'd never seen their children in such a state, or so at ease.

"It's like ye cast a spell on them," said one of the Duskians, "one that sends 'em snoring into a sleep full of dreams. We can't thank ye enough fer singin' 'em ta sleep, Hicca"

"Not a problem," she said with a smile. "I was just tired of waking up at odd hours, and you really have to thank Toothless for giving me the idea. If I need to, I could do it again in a pinch."

"And we'd gladly accept yer help if fer no other reason than to hear ye sing again." Goodbyes were exchanged, and Hicca flew off to attend another interesting task. Her flight took her to the home of Astrid and Stormfly, where she stopped quite a distance away from their actual cave. Sounds that make most polite company blush echoed out unashamedly, and Hicca quickly retreated to another task, deciding to come back later.

She flew to the "gathering area" she'd planned on setting up a while ago, which was still nothing more than a flat stretch of rock on the northern side of Dusk. Here and there were signs of her progress: empty braziers for signal fires, piles of glowing crystals that would be made into patterns, shards of glass that would be arranged the same way for daytime arrivals, and the framework for a lighthouse.

She began working on it a bit more, arranging the piles of crystals to lead into a large cave network for the future dragons, filtering in from various locations on the island to the entrance, then covering them in glass and melting them solid to make sure they stayed in place.

"Hey, Hicca, what are you working on?" Astrid asked, coming to land near Hicca. Stormfly joined her after a moment.

"Hey, Astrid, Stormfly," Hicca greeted, turning slightly from her work for a moment. "At the moment I'm making a lit path to the caves in case any dragons find this island and want to make a home here, without upsetting the village or causing a ruckus with our homes. After this, I'll be working on the lighthouse, a guard post over there, and some braziers for extra lighting."

" _Sounds good, how can we help?_ "

"You can probably help Astrid with the guard post, I'm almost done with these. I'll come help in a minute." The mates went to assemble the small house, leaving Hicca with the glowing crystals. They were half done when she got there, and it didn't take much longer for it to be finished. Toothless joined them, and the work went even faster with the braziers and lighthouse, finishing close to sunset.

" _This is a great spot to attract attention from,_ " Toothless said. " _It's high enough that sailors won't notice and low enough for most dragons to spot without difficulty._ "

"Save the praise for after we know that everything works," Hicca said, going to light the covered bonfires and uncover the huge crystal at the center of the maze of lenses in the lighthouse. Beams of blue-green light spread out high over the ocean and would grab attention for miles. "There, now our invitation works."

"Who's going to make sure the dragons don't cause trouble?" Astrid asked.

"A good question that should be answered in just a minute," Hicca said, turning to a gap between the rocks by a cliff. Presently, a Duskian from the village below walked over to the group, breathing a bit heavily from the climb.

"It's a touch difficult to get up here, sorry for the wait," he apologized. "Now, what did you want me here fer?"

"You're here to make sure things go smoothly when a dragon arrives at Dusk. We've set up this area and a few other things to attract the attention of dragons without pirates, and you will work in shifts with other members of Dusk to ensure that no ruckus or trouble comes from them after their arrival."

"Uh, I don't know how to handle a dragon?" he said, confused. "I used to work as a ship guard, I only know how to scare them off."

"Which is why you and the others will be taking a course in dragon training," Hicca smoothly explained. "I'll put out the lights and then show you." She doused the fires and covered the crystals, then gave the Duskian a lift to a small mountain nearby. The top had been carved out into an arena of sorts, and various pieces of equipment were visible from above. The group flew down, and everyone finally knew why Hicca had been so busy for the last few weeks.

"I guess I forgot to spread the news about this, so surprise!" Hicca said, spreading her arms wide to show the arena. "I plan to have the whole village learn how to treat and properly handle a dragon, with the choice of finding one for themselves. I wrote instruction manuals and stored them in the sealed cubby over there, and everything else is for practice before you meet an actual dragon."

" _What's with the plank that leads over the chasm?_ " Stormfly asked, gesturing to a hole in the wall with a long plank of wood leading out, and some sort of crane constructed above it.

"I'm glad you asked. Come over here for a moment, Hork" Hicca said, calling the Viking over. "This involves you, so step up and get a good look. I call this the 'trust fall,' an idea I had since most Vikings can't handle flying a dragon because of heights. This was made to help them overcome that fear, and specifically, falling."

"How?" Hork asked. Receiving a leather harness in reply. He put it on according to Hicca's instructions and was then attached to a rope and pushed from the edge of the plank with a startled yelp. His scream faded for a moment and then started getting louder again. Hicca caught him when he got high enough.

"Like that," she answered when he came back up, wide-eyed and windblown. "It gives the authentic sensation of falling from a great height but gets rid of the danger. Upper class members will do this without the harness, and let their dragons catch them."

"It's hair-brained, but it certainly gives 'the authentic sensation of falling,' I'll grant yeh that!" Hork said, trying to calm down his breathing. "I enjoyed it after I realized I wasn't goin' to die, so I'd say it works. If I might make a recommendation – _in the name of Thor don't push people off a cliff without a warning!_ " Hicca promised not to do that again through her laughter.

"Only for first timers to make it fair," she said, wiping her eyes dry. "So that's all of it. We have a way for Vikings to get used to dragons, and a way to get the dragons here. Any suggestions?" Nobody had anything to add, so Hicca said goodnight, helped Hork back to the village and flew back to her cave. She immediately went to work on her armor, attacking it with her sanding pads vigorously to make them even, and then to make them shine. No matter how deep she went into the metal, however, it still remained black. She was exhausted by the time she'd nearly finished the helmet and decided to call it a night, curling up in her mate's embrace.

Though her schedule was interrupted by dragon training (she'd kept the lights covered so far until the Duskians were ready for them) and singing every week to the babies in the village, Hicca managed to work in some time each day to sand her armor, and after a month, it was complete. It shined like the obsidian that had polished it and was as dark as the night Hicca flew through. Beautiful and terrifying were the two words that best described it, no others did it justice.

The Vikings, while coming along nicely, were still not ready for dragons after a month of training. They always had a certain expression when going through training, the same as when the handled yaks and sheep. Like they were looking at an animal or a _pet_.

"Alright, stop!" Hicca shouted. "None of you get it yet! You're not here to learn how to tame beasts and fend off monsters, you're here to learn how to communicate with and treat dragons respectfully! _They're not Thor-damned animals!_ Every last one of you is treating this like some class on a Hel-forsaken farm – _but it isn't!_ They're as intelligent or more so than you, and a condescending coo could get you clawed or fire roasted in a heartbeat! Think about what you're really doing." She wiped her face with one hand, exasperated. She sighed, eyes covered by her hand. "Go home for today, class dismissed."

Everyone left without a word. A few minutes after the sound of feet faded into the distance, Hicca allowed her tears of frustration to fall, clenching her teeth and sobbing quietly. The sound of something sticky and slimy climbed up the stairs, and Hicca uncovered her eyes to find Kyttal in front of her, curious and concerned.

" _If now is a bad time…_ " he said, quiet. Hicca wiped her eyes and shook her head, sniffing a little.

"I'm fine, what do you need?" A hint of a tremble could be heard in her tone.

" _Well, I've been talking with Toothless. We've noticed how strung out you are and planned a little surprise to help you relax back in the cave. I kinda need a lift though, so you'll have to wait a minute after we get back._ " Hicca laughed softly and agreed to help him back to the cave. He went inside while Hicca waited, and after a few minutes, he called her in.

The crystals in the walls had been covered, and even her Night Fury eyes couldn't pierce the dark. A deep purr reached her ears, and a tail brushed her calf. Then a few chirps and a beak scratched at her wing, slowly dragging down on her bones. Her legs shook a little at the sensations, and she jumped as a large and scale covered hand caressed her stomach, rubbing slow circles and relaxing her. Something wet traced her jawline, and then the crystals were uncovered. Toothless, Kyttal, Astrid, and Stormfly surrounded her, close enough to feel their heat, smiling seductively.

"What do you think of our surprise?" Astrid asked, moving her hand up Hicca's body to her breast, and using her free hand to massage the other. Kyttal moved his tentacle to trace her lips and retracted it as she moaned, teasing her further. Toothless used his tail to rub up and down on her legs, while Stormfly used hers to rub her slit.

"It's… ah… amazing," Hicca said with a moan. "None of… oh… us are leaving… haa-here without sore hips…"

" _Not a chance,_ " Toothless grinned, switching to stroking her leg with his tongue. Hicca smiled at him, legs shaking with all of this teasing.

"Th-then we'd better t-take our time," she said, gasping. The others couldn't agree more.

* * *

 **Hello everyone, and goodbye pitched tents. You guys should know by now that I love teasing as much as Hicca, only, teasing you instead of me. You'll get plenty of pillow talk in the next chapter, don't worry, and I hope you enjoyed this one. Catch you later everyone!**


	11. Torturous Love

An hour and a half after her surprise had been revealed, Hicca regretted her choice of words. She hadn't been allowed a single orgasm this entire time, but she was constantly being pleasured, and the effect this had on her was showing in full force; shaking legs, gasping breaths, and drenching wet nethers. She was undeniably enjoying this from the look on her face, but she hated that the buildup had been kept just high enough to torture her like this for so long.

Everyone was doing something to her: Toothless slowly pistoned his hips into hers, Astrid used her mouth and hands to their fullest on her breasts, Stormfly was occupying her mouth with his cock, and Kyttal was twirling a few of his tendrils through her digestive system and one more to dance in her bladder. Her mind was barely working with so much stimulation, but she could tell that when they decided to spare her it would be the best climax she'd ever had… _but it had been over an hour!_

Not for the first time she tried to beg around a rod of dragon flesh for release, but Toothless just chuckled in her ear, going the slightest bit deeper inside of her, and answered her question as she whined out her neediest moan possible.

" _Not yet, darling. The moon hasn't even come up yet, and it would be a shame to witness that happen after a climax. You're just going to have to wait a little longer, and then have the greatest pleasure you've ever felt._ " Unbeknownst to Hicca, they planned to tease her way beyond even that. Astrid wasn't as great a smith as Hicca, but she'd managed to craft a chastity belt just fine, and fit Hicca one night while she slept. As soon as the moon was visible, they'd stop the teasing and put it on her, leaving her as horny as a feral dragon in heat. They didn't know how long they would leave her like that, but it wouldn't be more than two days.

" _I wonder how sensitive she is right now?_ " wondered Stormfly. " _We must have been doing this for two hours, but she's still at the edge and we're barely doing anything._ "

"I don't know," Astrid said, pinching Hicca's nipple, "but experiencing this for even thirty minutes would drive me insane. I almost pity her, but my jealousy of her getting to experience this first is winning out. You guys promise to give me the same treatment later?" They agreed and focused on the task of keeping Hicca on edge for a while longer.

Moonlight finally splashed into the cave from the door, and everyone carefully pulled out from Hicca at the four hour mark. She weakly cried out at them, panting heavily, and gave a small yelp when the cold metal of the chastity belt slipped up her legs and locked onto her hips. A key turned in the back of the construction, and Astrid hid it in one of the crystal hollows before Hicca looked her way.

The dark half dragoness tried to rub at herself but found cold metal in the way. She tried rubbing herself against the floor, but that didn't work either. She groaned with frustration and discomfort, the burning between her legs unbearable.

" _Whoa, she really wants to get off,_ " Kyttal remarked, watching her with the others.

"She can't though, which really sucks since she's going to feel like that for a while," Astrid responded. She fingered herself at the view, biting her lip. "But damn is it hot to watch. How about we tease her with a show? I'm needing to get off as well." They were happy to oblige her, and Hicca could only watch with hungry eyes as she stopped trying to pleasure herself. The sight of pulsing rods entering and exiting all of Astrid's entrances was all the more alluring in her present condition, and her vent was painfully swollen with lust, pumping out enough love juices to form a rapidly growing puddle beneath her. A whine built in her throat of its own accord, a whine of desire and need, to be pounded until she couldn't think, and filled beyond her brim. The sound of lovemaking drowned out this sound, however, and her desires were left unheard.

A few minutes into it, Stormfly got off first and slammed Astrid's head down on his rod, force feeding her his seed and distending her stomach slightly. It didn't take long for Kyttal to follow, Doing the same in her rear and depositing enough to be visible as well. When both dragons had removed themselves, Toothless got rough, and pushed Astrid's shoulder into the floor, slamming their hips together and trying his hardest to fit his knot inside. Astrid moaned out huskily, not minding the cum and spit she drooled onto the floor when such a beast was rutting her like no tomorrow. With one final burst of speed and muscle, Toothless at last buried his knot into Astrid's tight hole, roaring out with lust as he dumped his load into her waiting womb. His was by far the largest of the three dragons, swelling her stomach to the look of pregnancy, maybe a bit less. Hicca's loins clenched painfully at the sight, her hormones going wild at the vision of sexual paradise before her, coated in a layer of ecstasy and pheromones to make it all the more unbearable to join in.

Astrid reclaimed herself and climbed up from the floor, wiping her mouth with a hand and licking it clean after a moment of consideration. Hicca walked towards her friend, fire in the eyes that locked on the dripping snatch that leaked out her mate's cum. With one swift move, she was squatting between Astrid's legs, tongue spreading wide her friends pussy, and trying desperately to drain her womb if only to taste the sex she couldn't have. Astrid's sensitive walls sang at the onslaught, and she gripped Hicca's head while moaning loudly, pressing her face deeper into her hips and inadvertently helping Hicca drink from her. Hicca was having trouble pushing open the pressurized cervix, however, and her tongue couldn't get a grip in the very wet and – admittedly – tasty vagina.

Astrid realized Hicca's goal after a moment and relaxed enough to let out the seed that Hicca wanted so badly. With a happy cry, Hicca dug even more furiously into her friend's tunnel, lapping up the white cream as fast as it came out. Astrid's shaking legs couldn't support her any longer, and she fell onto her back, Hicca still eating her out. Every drop of dragon sperm was drunk by Hicca, and she licked her lips when she was finished. The burning of her thighs was still raging though.

"Please…" she panted, "… take it off."

" _Mm… no,_ " Kyttal said. " _We've decided to keep you in that thing for a little while and let you stew up a bit. Then, when you calm down, we'll take it off, and get you horny again. Rinse, lather, repeat. You're not having an orgasm until day two at the minimum, and by day three you likely won't be able to think of anything but sex. I may even decide to swim around in your gut for a while, just to keep you hot and ready._ " She'd never wanted to throttle her friends more than this moment, but at the same time, it was the hottest thing she'd ever heard of.

" _Speaking of which, I think she's stopped flowing,_ " Stormfly said, gesturing to her less-wet privates. " _Kyttal, work your magic._ "

" _Right,_ " he said, smiling as he leaped at Hicca. She was entangled immediately, arms and legs pinned together, and could do nothing as he began crawling into her mouth and down her throat. He was too slick to grab as his last few tentacles vanished down her esophagus, and she gripped her bulging and squirming stomach with much moaning as he wandered through her guts.

" _Kyttal, if you can hear us, squirm around for a second,_ " Toothless said, causing Hicca to curl up on the floor as he did so. " _Great. An important note for you to know is that there's enough room in the chastity belt for you to squeeze into another hole from her ass if you want. That's all, and have fun._ " Hicca swore she heard Kyttal chuckle at that moment, but didn't have time to think about it as he began stretching his tentacles out to both ends of her body, reaching out through her mouth and nostrils, and poking around the edges of the chastity belt. Then he retracted them and swam down to her asshole, causing enough pleasure for her to get horny again, but not enough to make her cum. He did indeed have enough room to slide out of her bum, and he targeted Hicca's slit as soon as he emerged. What he didn't realize was that he missed her vagina from the odd angle, and compressed himself into her urethra.

His lack of bones saved Hicca from a tremendous amount of pain, along with her stretchable body, but all she felt for the few minutes he crawled in was blinding amounts of pleasure that somehow did nothing to bring her to climax – much to her frustration. She couldn't even tell him about his mistake through the haze, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. He somehow fit the entirety of his body in her bladder, and set to work stretching what he thought were her fallopian tubes, but was her bladder lines. She'd never had such a feeling in her life. All she knew was Earth-shattering, unholy, ungodly amounts of pleasure, but she still wasn't able to cum.

Kyttal soon got bored of this, and exited her bladder, only to discover that he'd been stretching out the wrong hole and its every last attachment. He shrugged, deciding that if there were something wrong he would have heard something, and entered Hicca's vagina to do what he'd originally intended. He still made sure to not let Hicca cum as he climbed through her vagina and cervix, moving just fast enough to keep her in suspense. He nearly drowned in the flood of juices he was swimming through, but still had enough air to last him for hours.

"Thor dammit," Hicca shouted, pushing the words through moans and gritted teeth. "Let me cum!" In response, Kyttal kept moving slowly as he extended his tentacles, filling and stretching out her womb with sheer strength. He gave her cervix the same treatment, and soon she was wide enough to fit him comfortably, and he wouldn't even have to squeeze himself to exit. He did this - moving more carefully when he remembered Hicca's challenge - and took the same route out as when he entered. Hicca could taste her own ass and traces of her snatch when Kyttal slithered over her tongue, and he'd moved enough of her juices up with him for her to drink them both.

" _So, did you enjoy my little journey?_ " he asked, watching as she swallowed the nectar in her mouth and massaged her breasts. He restrained her hands and did it for her, roughly pressing and squeezing them with his tendrils. He had a thought and looked contemplatively at her nipples. " _I wonder if…_ " he said to himself, carefully pressing the ends of his tentacles into the ends of her nipples. With a bit of force and quite a few protests and moans from Hicca, Kyttal managed to push his tentacles into her breasts. He swirled the ends about the inside of her chest, and pistoned them a little bit, watching her skin pull out and in as he did this. The sounds Hicca made went ignored as Kyttal did this, and then sought to find out how deep his tentacles could go into Hicca's ample bosom.

He sunk inch after inch of flesh into her mounds, eventually pushing in second tentacles to help fill the space he was creating. When he'd reached her ribs, he just began balling up his tentacles and pushing even more in. He finally stopped out of concern for Hicca when her breasts had become somewhat worryingly large and retracted all of his tentacles from her chest. For a few minutes, her chest was open, and inside Kyttal could see milk pooling in the space he'd left, dripping down the walls.

The open air inside of her tits was a strange but sensual feeling for Hicca, and she couldn't help her panting and groaning. Her plump, scale-covered breasts had been ravaged by Kyttal, and she'd actually liked it. It seemed that her torture was over for today since he left to the pools below, and Toothless invited her to bed. It was very late, and the Nadder pair of Astrid and Stormfly were yawning as they said goodnight and flew back to their home. She collapsed into the embrace of her mate, exhausted from the sexual tension of the evening, and had dreams of having sex once she finally got this damn belt off.


	12. Hel Hath No Fury

**Hello everyone! I have here an extra long and sexy chapter, filled to the brim with juicy scenes. I'm going to try and depart from writing so many lemons in later chapters since the longest one yet (this one) is made of nothing but citrus. I'll likely still write them, don't worry, you just won't get another on of these. Enjoy it, and my future chapters. :)**

* * *

Hicca woke up the next morning still horny, but her body restored to its firm and sleek shape. No aches or pains reminded her of what had happened, but she didn't need them to remember; she'd been given a lesson in the true meaning of teasing. She suddenly had an idea and chuckled quietly as she went to work designing it. Kyttal had been kind enough at one point to give her a few jars worth of slime, and she put them to good use. She mixed together a few variations of a formula to give her a stretchy material and found a mix of the slime and a good helping of soot to be the best and smoothest. After figuring out that, she made a mold out of clay, and was unsuccessful a few times in making her tool before she had the idea to "cook" it in a low flame. She was rewarded with the rough product and spent a few minutes melting away ridges and bumps, leaving it perfectly smooth.

"Toothless," she crooned softly, waking up her mate and rubbing the slit that hid his cock.

" _Mm…_ " he rumbled, a smile on his face at the pleasant feeling. " _What is it Hicca?_ "

"I've got something new I just made, and I need to try it on you. It will work better if you're at full mast." He wondered what she'd made, and allowed her to tease out his shining rod without resisting. When he was fully up, she slid her creation down his dragon hood and used a bit of force to get it below his knot. Hicca wasn't sure of a name for this, but "cock ring" was so far a very apt one.

" _That feels weird but good,_ " Toothless commented, liking the pressure it kept on him. " _What's it do?_ "

"I can tell you when it works," Hicca answered, "but I don't know if it does until then. Just relax for now." She leaned down and began licking and sucking Toothless off. He groaned out with pleasure, leaning back to get comfortable. She used her hands, her tongue, and even her throat to pleasure him, waiting with anticipation to see if it worked. A few minutes later, Toothless warned her about his imminent orgasm, as evidenced by his heavy breathing. With a loud moan, he came, but he nearly choked, and instead screeched with surprise when the pressure only built, and didn't release. He began keening as Hicca kept on sucking, apparently oblivious to his distress.

" _Hicca, I don't think your new invention works, I can't cum!_ " She laughed around his straining rod, which desperately tried to pump out Toothless' seed unsuccessfully.

"Then it works," she said. "I'm thinking of calling it a cock ring, short and to the point. Now you'll know what it feels like to be in my place." Before her mate could react, she attacked his shaft again, making him roar as his over-sensitive cock tried to cum again and still couldn't. Huge amounts of cum backed up inside of Toothless' body, produced by his internal testicles and not having an exit. It got so bad that his lower stomach distended very slightly, at which point Hicca stopped as her mate was keening loudly and trying to get the ring off.

" _Hicca, get it off, I need to cum!_ " He begged, whining out loudly.

"I don't think so," she replied, smirking at her mate and his dripping, swollen, red penis. "You're not going to orgasm for a while. You're going to know exactly what it feels like to be me, and unlike my body, that pressure is staying right where it is until I get my belt off. I also wouldn't try to orgasm anymore, since we don't know if your body is quite as stretchy as mine, and you might hurt yourself if your jewels get any bigger. Enjoy your blue balls, Tooth." She walked away, listening to the music that was his cries of despair and lust. She reentered her workshop and made two more of the rings.

Kyttal?" she called across the lake when she'd finished making her rings. "I need you over here for a moment." He swam up to her in a few moments and asked what she needed. "I have a new invention I want to try, but it can only be used when you're erect. It won't hurt you or anything, and you might even like it," she explained as he looked at her with suspicion.

" _Eh, what the heck, why not?_ " he said, flipping onto his back at Hicca's request, and letting her get him worked up and solid. He hummed in pleasure as she rubbed him with her soft hands, but was curious when she pulled a black ring from the end of her tail. " _Is that your invention?_ "

"Yup," Hicca said, popping the P as she began slipping the ring down the second cock today. It took less effort to get it on Kyttal, and she hoped it would still be effective. "I had the idea to enhance pleasure and wanted to see if this would work. It's just an idea, so it may not do what I'd hoped."

" _It certainly feels good,_ " Kyttal purred, running a tentacle over his more sensitive rod. " _I feel more now - like I'm rock hard. Maybe there's something to this invention you made._ " Hicca grinned as she went back down on her friend.

'I should hope so,' she thought to herself. A few minutes of slurping and groaning later, Kyttal came… or, at least tried to.

" _Hah… hah… I'm cumm- WHAT?! Gah! Get it off of me! Shit, shit, shit!_ " he shouted, groaning and cursing as Hicca kept on sucking. " _Hicca, I can't cum, stop, I'm too sensit – NIGHTMARE'S TITS!_ " His first orgasm was interrupted by another one, stacking the pleasure, and pushing more blood into his dick.

'Whoa, didn't see this coming… wait… heh, heh,' Hicca thought, then chuckled to herself. She stopped when she thought he'd had enough, and watched as his shaft twitched feverishly in the cold air, trying to pump sperm and failing. He couldn't get a grip on the tight ring and didn't dare to touch his cock in its present state.

"I'm thinking of calling it a cock ring, do you like it?" Hicca asked sweetly, using her foot to rub his tip slowly. He whined like a kicked dog, torn between stopping Hicca and letting her continue. "Toothless had the same reaction whenever I used it on him, and the both of you will keep your hard-ons and full balls until I say. I'll be back in a little while, Kyttal." She made to leave and stopped. "I also don't think that the cold water trick will work on that since everything is trapped where it is, but I could be wrong. Just a thought."

She walked from her cave, passing a grumbling and funny-walking Toothless on her way out, and flew down to Astrid's and Stormfly's nest. Astrid happened to be out fishing at the moment, and she had Stormfly to herself.

"Knock, knock," she said, announcing herself as she walked in on Stormfly in the middle of cleaning himself.

" _Hey, Hicca,_ " he greeted, finishing up a foot. " _What do you need? Astrid is out fishing if you're looking for her._ "

"Nah, I was looking for you. I have something to try on you that Toothless and Kyttal both seemed to really enjoy, so I thought to share it with you," she said, holding up the ring and stretching it to show what made it special. "I made it hold the base of a penis and make erections last longer while enhancing the pleasure."

" _Sounds fancy, but it basically means that I'll have a boner longer and enjoy it more?_ " Stormfly simplified, thinking himself clever for seeing through her words.

"Pretty much," she said, walking closer. "Care to try it on?"

" _I see no reason not to,_ " he said, sitting down and spreading his legs. He smirked, " _Besides, I'm apparently getting a blowjob, what's not to like?_ " Hicca shrugged at his logic, silently agreeing as she moved between his legs and started rubbing his genital slit. Purring soon filled the cave as Hicca's hands found purchase on the Nadder's shaft, stroking him to his full length. She pulled the ring down his cock until it was snug against his base, making him groan softly with desire.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Hicca asked, getting a nod from Stormfly. "It makes this-" she rubbed him, and he gave a low screech "- feel even better, doesn't it?"

" _Ooh, definitely…_ " he mumbled, descending into unintelligible purrs and groans. She worked him up like the others and smiled when she got the same warning from Stormfly. Just the same as before, he was unable to push anything in his body past the ring and became very sensitive under Hicca's expert onslaught. He was soon a shivering, moaning, hot mess writhing on the floor, stuck between the options of begging Hicca to stop and letting her continue her ministrations and make it worse.

"I know, the others were just like that when I finished," she said, "but Toothless had it the worst. His stones actually made his belly expand with how much they produced, so I'd say you got off easy." She teased his hyper-sensitive dragon hood with slow strokes, making him silently screech as his head was thrown back in painful ecstasy. "But that would be a lie since you're not really getting off. Anyways, I have some stuff to do, and I'll be ready to take all of your rings off when you take off my belt. Bye for now!" Her revenge complete, Hicca went out fishing and bumped into Astrid by chance.

"Hey, Hicca," Astrid said, finishing off her catch. "What're you doing here?"

"Looking for firewood, what do you think?" Hicca snarked, rolling her eyes. "I'm just here to get a decent meal and to take my mind off not getting to use my hips because of _somebody._ " Astrid looked away innocently, gnawing a bone.

"I wonder who? They must be really strong if they managed to stop you from spreading your legs," Astrid said aloud, getting an angry hiss and a thump to the back of the head from Hicca.

"Jerk, that's a low blow!" she shouted, pushing Astrid into the water with a grin. "I may have my legs spread wide, but you're soaking wet!"

"Cheap jokes, priceless target," Astrid retorted while rubbing her hands down her sides sexily. She was immediately pushed back into the water.

"Bad jokes are my territory, yours is being mad and beating things up. Stay in your place!" Astrid stuck her tongue out, returning to her bones. "By the way, where's the key to my belt?" The half Nadder smirked evilly.

"Not telling. It would spoil my fun."

"I'd imagine that those would spoil it more than I ever could," Hicca said, gesturing to the three dragons closing in, one getting carried by another. They were revealed to be Toothless, Kyttal, and Stormfly, sporting massive erections and pained faces.

" _Give Hicca the damn key to her belt!_ " Toothless ordered, moving carefully. " _She tricked all three of us into wearing these sky-forsaken cock rings, and now she's given us permanent blue balls!_ " Astrid sniggered at them, walking over to Stormfly, reaching down and flicking his cock, making him shuffle and give a short roar of protest.

" _Yipe! Stop that, I'm sensitive enough as is without your help!_ "

"By Thor, Hicca," Astrid said, "I don't know what you did, but I guess that can wait while you get that key. It's behind one of your crystal lamps in your home. Hurry, Toothless looks a bit stressed." Hicca flew back to her cave as quickly as she could, getting excited at the thought of removing her chastity belt, and found the key after a few tries. She unlocked her belt in moments and rushed to her mate after removing it, leaning down to pull off the ring. Aside from a spurt of precum, nothing came from Toothless.

" _Hicca, please, my balls are hurting! I have to let off the pressure,_ " he said, crooning at the feeling of Hicca's hands rubbing his rod. She agreed and moved them into their room to continue. At that moment, Stormfly came in the door carrying Kyttal, calling out for Hicca.

" _Before you get to that, would you mind getting these off as well?_ " Kyttal asked. " _And, uh, while you're down there, it would help immensely if you gave us the same treatment as Toothless._ " She rolled her eyes, but agreed, removing their cock rings and leading all three of them into her room. Hicca was feeling a bit vindictive that her mate hadn't stood up for her, and decided that he would go last, threatening to put the ring back on when he began complaining. Toothless had to watch as his mate enjoyed the spit roasting that Kyttal and Stormfly gave her, the first taking his time with her backside, and the second thrusting into her mouth with a relieved expression.

Stormfly came first, no match for Hicca's mouth, shooting a flood of ropey sperm into Hicca's stomach. He gave her a bit more than she expected, but she managed easily. Toothless tried to approach her, but she made him wait until Kyttal was finished as further punishment. Said dragon didn't take much longer than that but surprised Hicca when he filled up the rest of her stomach with his orgasm. Hicca remembered how much more she'd done to Toothless, and got somewhat worried. Kyttal pulled out, and Toothless pounced, immediately spearing Hicca's egg maker and thrusting with reckless abandon. She didn't even have time to shout, just moaning louder than ever. Toothless took the least amount of time to finish, but Hicca was right to be worried.

Their hips slammed together, Toothless burying his knot in Hicca, and then came the single largest amount of cum she'd ever taken. Every pump from Toothless was audible like a whale's heartbeat and felt like a gallon had been forcibly pushed into her stomach. The skin and scales on her stomach pulled tight and then stretched, her organs squishing into crevices to make room and the sperm she'd had in her stomach forced out of her mouth and ass. Her belly was firmly against the floor when Toothless finally stopped, but he didn't let her rest. He gave a huge pull of his hips, yanking his fully inflated knot out of her body, and slammed his cock back into her ass, giving it the exact same treatment as her gushing and sloppy vent. She was beyond thinking by now, having constantly orgasmed since five minutes into his first round, getting a short break when Toothless had switched holes. This took less time than before, but the amount of cream he forced into Hicca was the same. She could feel her gut strain with the conflicting pressure of her womb and the powerful orgasm of her mate, but it still greedily drank what he gave it, blowing up and pushing back against her womb. The flood reached her stomach, and she swallowed rapidly to keep it from going out of her mouth, succeeding for just long enough for Toothless to stop his torrent.

Hicca had never been so full, and she was fairly sure she could fit a whole Viking in her belly, maybe two. If she weren't almost the size of Toothless she likely would have burst. Her mate sounded exhausted, and his panting whistled as he breathed, with Hicca in no better condition. Toothless was splayed out on top of her, too tired to pull out his knot, and the two fell asleep like that in two minutes. Stormfly and Kyttal's jaws were practically on the floor as they looked at the aftermath of the mates' sex, disbelieving of both how much Toothless put out and the sheer amount that Hicca took. They quietly said goodbyes to each other, Kyttal walking to his home and Stormfly doing the same, thinking with relish of the spectacle they'd witnessed.


	13. Answers and Problems

**Hello readers, my next chapter is up, and I maaay have bent the rules on steering totally clear of lemons. Technically though, it was never a full on rule, so whatever. Enjoy this chapter, and get ready for some action in the coming chapters. Later!**

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Hicca woke up like normal. Next to or under Toothless, check; filled with an incredible amount of dragon cream that sloshed pleasantly in her stomach, check; having to use the bathroom and drain herself of last night's fun, check. She carefully pulled herself out from under Toothless to do this last one, moving over to the hole in the floor and doing her business. The only odd thing about the morning was an odd feeling to her body, like new limbs. She walked into the sunlight to check this and promptly sat down heavily in shock. She really did have new limbs.

Her modified tail was the first thing she noticed, with her fins able to fully retract inside of the limb and covered in what appeared to be Nadder spines, giving it a sort of long pinecone look common amongst the dragon species. Her hands and feet were covered in miniscule suckers like those of an octopus or squid, and she had the tentacles reminiscent of both growing from her head like dreadlocks. She found that she could control them to a surprising degree and that they were able to stretch nearly double their resting length. In that state, they waved gently behind her, as though caught in a breeze she couldn't feel. She definitely liked the additions but wondered where they'd come from.

"Toothless, are you awake?" she asked into the dark of their room. He groaned as he shifted around to look at her. "I've changed, I need you to help me out."

" _Changed?_ " he asked, slowly getting up. " _What's that supposed to…_ " he trailed off. He sniffed at all of the changes she pointed out but was just as stumped as Hicca when he tried to think of where they came from. " _Let's think: what have you done recently that you haven't done before?_ "

"I had a three way, but-… Stormfly and Kyttal," she said, looking at her Nadder-like tail and suckered hands. "I must have gotten this from those two, but I've had sex with both before, what gives?"

" _What was different about this time?_ " Hicca thought hard about it and then realized.

"This was the first time that either of them came inside of me. So, I guess I can get dragon abilities from sex now," Hicca said, a bit dazed. "This is weird, so weird."

" _I don't have anything to explain it either. Kinda cool now that I think about it._ " She was pulled from her stupor by that comment and batted Toothless on the nose for it.

"Dirty, dirty dragon," she said. "Such thoughts shouldn't be mentioned in the presence of a lady."

" _You're a lady?_ " he asked, dodging her smack. A game of tag ensued, filled with taunts from one and jabs at the other. Eventually, they took to the skies, and the game ended half an hour later when they hugged each other midair, diving headfirst into the ocean. After that they swam and fished, getting breakfast in the process, they sought out Stormfly to talk and get his opinion on Hicca's changes. The cave that he and Astrid lived in currently had the sounds of sex emanating from it, but Stormfly sounded a little in pain. Toothless and Hicca walked in regardless, and were treated to the sight of a bound up Stormfly wearing a cock ring, with Astrid slowly riding him and leering at him from above.

"Somebody's having fun," Hicca said, announcing her presence. "But it doesn't look like Stormfly. How did you trick him into this?"

"The wonders of dragon nip are to thank for this, with a touch of that knock-out herb you showed me," Astrid replied, grunting a little as she lowered herself to halfway on Stormfly. "I think you'll like the rules I set for him: he can't speak or move, and if he moans too loudly I make him cum with a ring on. He gets to orgasm when I say so." Hicca shared her grin and walked closer.

"Well as fun as that sounds, I have something to ask you two," she said and explained what she'd discovered that morning. Astrid didn't stop riding Stormfly during this conversation, and his muffled groans were getting louder. "So, any thoughts?"

"Not from me, I don't know much about this kind of thing. Stormfly, do you?" the Nadder shook his head no, eyes closed tight as he neared his limit. "Sorry to disappoint you, Hicca. Good luck finding an answer." They said their goodbyes and the Nightfury pair left. "Now, where was I?" Astrid asked, smirking down at Stormfly. He whimpered.

"So, those two are out, maybe Kyttal knows something?"

" _He's been out of the loop when it comes to dragon news, but it's worth a shot,_ " Toothless said, flying beside Hicca. They landed back at the entrance to their home and walked down to the lake beneath it. When Hicca was left unsatisfied a third time, she pitched an idea to visit the one dragon that was sure to know.

"How about we try the dragon goddess?" Hicca suggested. "Of any dragon in the archipelago, I'd bet Dusk on her knowing the answer."

" _Well, when that particular dragon is a literal deity and asked specifically not to be disturbed, this seems a bit small to be a good reason to disobey her request, don't you think?_ " Toothless returned, understandably apprehensive about causing a goddess' anger.

"She's too nice to do anything horrible, and even if she did ask to be alone, it was mostly something to keep her location hidden from the rest of the world. We already know where she is, and therefore are more welcome than most." Hicca's logic seemed right, and Toothless hesitantly agreed to join her in asking for answers. They chose to try and make a stealthy approach in case any curious villagers decided to see what they were flying to and quickly found themselves in the dragoness' lair. She was quietly snoring where they'd left her a few months ago, blending in with the rock so well that Hicca had a hard time finding her. The sound of their feet and their scent were enough to rouse her, and she gave a large yawn as she turned her eyes to face them.

" _Hmm? What is it you two want?_ " the goddess asked, sleep hanging in her tone. " _I was having a pleasant dream that now eludes me. I'd like to get back to it as soon as possible._ "

"We'd like the same," Hicca said, smiling at her, "we just have a few important questions related to my situation. For one, I have Nadder and… parts from whatever Kyttal is now added on to Nightfury and queen. Why?"

" _Simple: the bond that you and your mate share has opened your body in a way, allowing it to gain helpful qualities from the dragons it gets a taste of. You got changes from the queen by somehow taking a piece of her within yourself, maybe blood or even a scale._ "

"Easy enough to understand, thank you. What will happen if I… get a taste of more dragons?"

" _The more obvious effect will be additions of their bodies on yours. On the inside, however, you will understand them more thoroughly, and gain control over them and their species._ "

"Sounds useful. Last question for now, what kind of dragon is Kyttal?" The queen gave a sort of a cough.

" _He is a Deep Dweller in your language. Most of his kind live on the bottom of the ocean, never seeing the light of day. I don't know what led him to the red tyrant's nest if that was your next question._ "

"It wasn't, but thank you for everything. Sorry to disturb your rest," Hicca said, leading Toothless away from the goddess and into the sky as the massive dragon fell back asleep.

" _I didn't expect that to go so quickly,_ " Toothless commented, looking back. " _Or for her to be so accepting of the interruption._ "

"If she's an actual goddess, she'll have eternity to catch up, and she must wake up sometimes," Hicca said, thinking. "I'd probably have done the same thing in her place, to be honest, but I might not sleep so much."

" _So, now that you know what you can do, what_ will _you do?_ " Toothless asked.

"Don't know, but I'm interested in seeing where more dragon abilities will take me. I can already think of a few particularly helpful abilities." They were silent for a while, deciding to just fly around Dusk for a while. Hicca gazed across the horizon and saw a plume of smoke rising from it. At that distance, it would have to be massive to be seen by her. It was big enough that a whole island could be on fire. Hicca grew restless. She slowly asked, "Toothless, do you see that?"

" _Yes,_ " he replied, getting the same uneasy feeling as his mate. " _Isn't that the direction of… never mind, let's go look,_ " he said, not finishing that thought. They sped towards the island, Hicca slowing so that Toothless could keep pace, and arrived within a few hours. The setting sun made the whole pillar of smoke light up orange, as though it was still on fire. It was a village, burned to a crisp not hours ago by pirates or other Vikings. The cinders were still hot on the destroyed homes.

Hicca was silent, unblinking as she looked around. Her feet took her into what was once a blacksmith shop, even the tools turned to ash. The houses were blackened skeletons, waiting to fall, and even the trees nearest to the place hadn't been spared. It was as though some giant had used the village as a cooking fire. She stumbled her way to the middle of the village. On the ground was a charred corpse, enormous by Viking standards. He'd been slain while standing and was slumped forward on his knees, ax in hand and burned like everything else. Tears streamed down her eyes as she looked at the helmet on its head, a modified half of a breastplate with huge horns jutting from the sides. A helmet that she knew.

"Dad…" she whispered into the ash-heavy air, collapsing to her knees beside him and finally releasing her sobs. Stoick, Gobber, Gothi, the twins, Snotlout, Spitelout, Bucket, Mulch, even Mildew – the names of the Berkians swirled through her head, branding themselves into her memory. Toothless walked up behind her, a haunted look in his eyes.

" _Hicca…_ " he said slowly. " _Whoever did this… barricaded all of the doors to the homes… while they were asleep… and burned them to death…_ " He sat down heavily. " _I can smell it… cloth, hair, blood… baked in the fires, and spread in the ashes… they all burned…_ " They both knew that it was one of the worst ways to die, even unconsciousness couldn't save them from the pain. " _I found who did it, a flag left behind by the Vikings._ " He dropped a scrap of cloth to the earth. It had a Skrill breathing lightning painted on the front. Berserkers.

"No," she denied, shaking her head. "Dagur likes a good fight, he wouldn't burn a whole village because he lost to…" She realized. He hadn't lost; he'd won. He'd fought her father here, killed him, and then burned the village to the ground. Toothless was wrong about burning everyone while they'd been asleep. They'd all watched as their chief had been slain, and barricaded into the homes they'd run to.

They would have surrounded the terrified Berkians with oil and lit it with torches. Then the screaming would have started, a horrid curse too foul and primal to understand, ripped from their throats by the flames. She could almost hear them now. She knew without having to search that there wouldn't be survivors; Dagur wouldn't leave any after his victory against one of the best chiefs to ever live. Even if they crawled from the burning ruins of their homes, they would have been killed by his men. It was the end of Berk.

Hicca suddenly felt every ounce of fear and sadness and hate and revenge that every Viking had felt in their last blazing moments. Every angry face full of anger flashed before her eyes, singed hair bright with cinders, and every mournful cry of the damned souls in her village croaking for justice with their last smoke-laden breaths. A feeling of _burning, burning, burning_ welled in the pit of her chest, beneath her heart, and every sob wracking her lungs emerged as a growl. She couldn't contain this new feeling any longer, this call, this plea.

She took a breath and released a battle cry that shook the foundations of Berk itself. Her people may not have accepted her, but this foul act would not go unpunished, the people of Berk unavenged. Her battle cry was a warning, a challenge to **try** to stop her from taking the life of the man responsible for this massacre. It was the sound that Dagur would hear when his soul was slammed down to Hel by Hicca's blades and scorched by her fire.


	14. How Far Down?

**Hoo boy, prepare for some heavy stuff folks. Incoming dark Hicca and tears. Prepare a box of tissues, and tuck yourself in bed extra tight tonight. See you all later.**

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Toothless struggled to keep pace with Hicca as they soared back to Dusk, the smell of ashes clinging to them both. He hadn't said anything since Hicca had challenged every Berserker ship for twenty miles with her shout, and almost didn't want to know what she had planned, if anything. He'd never felt so much anger coming off of one being before, Viking or dragon, but Hicca's made the air around her dance like water as she flapped her wings, and she constantly released small breaths of fire. If there was ever an image of the term "blind with rage," it would be Hicca at that moment.

When they landed, she immediately stomped her way into her armory, and snatched up a hammer and two ingots of her metal, getting them to forge temperature with just her hands. Her anger was poured into the blade she forged, a curved design that Toothless hadn't seen before, and only sharp on one side. Her anger kept the metal hot while she worked, beating the metal into deadly perfection. The stone floor where she stepped turned red hot but didn't go hotter than that due to her constant movement.

Hicca didn't forget proper forging during all of this, and handled her weapon and tools professionally, first dropping the sword into a tank of water, and then tempering it by rubbing her hands along the blade. She sanded it smooth and gripped a log of wood so hard that it didn't have the air to catch fire, compressing down into an inflammable chunk of hardwood that she hollowed out and turned into a hilt, cutting it in half and pinning it to the handle of her sword. The aura of this sword was the same as that of a draugr that Toothless had heard about from Hicca: powerful, and near evil, with the same background of injustice and improper burial as both her people and the monsters of legend.

Hicca fashioned a quick ring to hold her sword to her armor and donned the dark metal itself in preparation for an all-out slaughter. As an afterthought, she also grabbed one of the jars of Kyttal's slime for use as a coating for her blade, since it caught fire and burned for hours when lit by a hot enough fire. The sealant kept the liquid from igniting in the container, but only just, and she tied it to her armor's belt. Though Toothless was afraid, he stepped in to stop Hicca from leaving as she reached the door, the first time he'd protested her actions.

" _Hicca, I beg you, don't go,_ " he pleaded, staring into the holes in her helmet. She'd opened all six of her eyes now, and each was focused into Toothless' two. " _I realize that what has happened is a tragedy and that you're in a fury, but there has to be a better way to handle this than-_ " he didn't get to finish as she stormed past, wings spreading when she reached the edge of her home's plateau. It was pointless to even try to stop her in this state, the mindset of the ever-feared Viking berserker, the killer that feels no pain, no fear, only bloodlust. Ironically, she would be hunting a clan named just that.

She landed back in her old village, smelling the air for a trail to follow. She found it and took off again after the scent, tracing the path that the Vikings had left on their journey home. She arrived at the Berserker's island within a few hours, coming upon a scene of merriment. The Berserkers were dancing and laughing, drinking mead and singing to the tune of shanties that followed a good raid. She dived straight down into the center of the village, drawing her sword at the same time. With a sound like thunder, she impacted on a statue of one of their ancient chiefs, blowing it apart into a thousand pieces with her landing. The merriment stopped immediately, and every fearful eye in the village turned on what seemed to be a demon from the lowest level of Hel itself.

"I have come for every life, man, woman, and child in the Berserker tribe, as payment for the lives of the same from the Hairy Hooligans. Should Dagur the Deranged defeat me in single combat with his choice of weapons, you will be spared. Any cheating will forfeit your lives. Bring him here, _**now**_." Hicca ordered, finishing her challenge by planting her sword tip first into the stones of the square and standing with her hands on the hilt to wait. The heat was still radiating from her body and armor, distorting her image and keeping the Vikings well away from her for fear of being burned. Not a minute later, Dagur was brought forward, sword in hand and grin on his face. It dropped slightly when he saw his opponent.

"What is this, some trick?" he asked, looking at his villagers. "That thing isn't even- "

"Shut up and fight, coward." Hicca kicked her sword into her hand and charged the somewhat startled Berserker. By some miracle of instinct and madness, Dagur barely managed to deflect Hicca's attack from wounding him but was thrown away by the force, and barely had time to gather himself. His sword had a cut in the side half an inch deep, and more appeared as he desperately parried more of Hicca's swings. A minute into this he finally got his footing and dodged her next swing, backpedaling rapidly to get some breathing room. He didn't even have time for taunts, but apparently, Hicca did.

"I can't believe this," she said. "Stoick the Vast was killed by this? A mad weakling who can barely keep his feet? Did you poison him first? Drive him into a rage? Must have been easy after that, just walk up to him and take a swing. You haven't earned anything from a kill like that… but you certainly deserve something. What you deserve is an eternity spent in Hel Dagur, and to be sent screaming into it head first - like the coward you are - by me."

Dagur was shaking, the exertion and fear making his heart go wild. He leaped for Hicca, attempting to go for what looked like a weak point in her armor at the neck. His sword shattered on contact, Hicca not moving an inch. He went for her eye with the broken hilt, but she grabbed him by the throat and lifted him to her level. The heat was burning him raw where she held him, and his beard smoked. His bugging eyes and gasping mouth were brought close to Hicca, and she lifted her visor to him.

"Look upon me as you choke," she told him, growling. He was looking, and his fear just kept growing. Six eyes, midnight black skin, and scales, and a toothy grimace that showed both her disgust and her sharp teeth. "Look… and see your end, Dagur. You have brought this on yourself for your crimes. Go swiftly to your damnation, cur, and pray to every god in Valhalla that I don't meet you at the bottom of Hel." She tossed him into the air as he screamed and begged but was silenced when he was cut in half lengthwise by her swing. His remains splashed on the ground, viscera, and blood spilling out and soaking between the stones of the square.

She looked up at the terrified faces of the village, raising her sword slowly. For one brief, critical moment, her humanity flashed back into her mind, and she realized what she was about to do. She saw what their faces would show, and the morality she would lose. She knew that if she did to them what had been done to Berk, her soul and conscience would never be clean again. She sheathed her sword and walked to the center of the square.

"Enough lives have been taken today," she said, hiding how disturbed she was coming so close to committing such an atrocity. "I won't be the one to take any more. Next time your chief says to slaughter a village, remember this moment, and what could have happened." With that, she took flight, heading in a direction not leading to Dusk before she circled back for home. She flew quick and collapsed to the floor outside of her cave when she got back, taking hiccupping breaths and shaking so badly that she couldn't stand or take off her armor. Toothless ran out to her worried at the sight of her shaking form and bloodstained armor.

" _Hicca…_ " he said hesitantly. " _Did you…?_ "

"Thank Thor, no… but gods, Toothless, I got so close," she said, looking at him with tear-stained eyes. "It was close. So, so close to actually doing it. The only one to be burned tonight is Dagur, but that bastard deserves it, and I held myself back from doing the same thing to the village as he'd done to Berk. Women, _children_ Toothless… I don't even want to think about it…"

" _Come on,_ " Toothless said. " _Let's get you out of that armor first, and then I'll help you forget this._ " He helped her walk into the shop and then held her as she removed the pieces with jittering fingers. They clanked heavily to the floor, the blood standing out like rust on the perfectly dark metal. She'd wash it later, but for now, she wanted to be as far away as possible from the cursed armaments. The sword left a slash in the stone floor as she threw it away, ringing like a high-pitched bell. When she was finally naked again, she clung to Toothless, sobbing, releasing everything she'd buried beneath her fury for the last few hours.

"Follow me, now," she said through her tears, running out of the door and taking flight. The twilight sky was filled with the diamond-like stars and provided enough light to see everything even with the new moon. She sped through the sky as fast as she could, climbing, twirling, diving, spinning, rolling, and falling through the air.

Her dance was copied by Toothless, barely behind her, and after a long flight, they came together for the finale: the eagle dive. Locked together, they plummeted from the greatest height to the lowest they possibly could. The ground came closer, closer, closer. Three dragon lengths away from the ground they split apart, pulling away and circling around to lose their speed. They landed together and Hicca held Toothless close, both of them breathing heavily.

"Thank you," she mumbled into his neck, breath tickling the gaps between his scales. "I needed this."

" _Whenever, wherever, whatever,_ " he replied, " _I'd do it again in a heartbeat for you, Hicca. Let's sleep this off, you still need to rest._ "

"One last thing, before that, please?" she asked him. He nodded. "We'll need to go onto an islet for it though, so as not to wake the villagers." They took their time and landed on a sea stack a long way from dusk. They were surrounded by nothing but ocean and stars, no visible land at all. She took a breath, held it, let it out, and took another before she sang.

It wasn't a song of words, nor could any fit it. Toothless didn't know what the beautifully tragic song was about; it wasn't in any language he could understand, and it probably wasn't even a language. It would have made every god that heard it weep, and Toothless kept his own quiet for Hicca. Sometimes she sounded like a whale, others a wolf, or even thunder. Other sounds he couldn't describe, but all of them expressed regret and sorrow of the deepest pain. She sang until the sun came up, and then ended on a long, sweet note that faded into the sunrise. With heavy eyes, they returned home and tucked in for half of the day, getting rid of the last of Hicca's problems.

Unknown to the both of them, even this couldn't repair the crack in Hicca's soul. It did, however, lessen the pain of the split that came while she was asleep, and she hardly even felt when it happened. One small, very jagged part tore itself off from the brightness that was Hicca and festered and condensed itself into a pinprick of darkness. This part was what had almost repaid the Berserkers with their own medicine, what grieved for the island she'd once called home, and Hicca had amputated it from herself with her sadness and regret. She'd sealed all of the things that hurt her and hurt others into it and cast it off for now. She didn't get rid of it entirely though; she saw the use of a piece of darkness that drove her into a berserker rage and decided to save it, her last resort. However, even if it was a part of her, it was dangerous. The rest was all the brighter for the separation, and she rested easier as her mind cleared and she relaxed into Toothless.


	15. Whispering With Death

A few days after the incident, Hicca decided that the Vikings were ready to handle dragons, lighting all of the beacons she'd set up, and posting shifts for dragon handlers at the entrance to the caves. It didn't take long for dragons to arrive, trickling in at an easily managed pace. Species both common and rare came towards the light of Dusk, called by the fire and the odd presence that Hicca gave the place, the air of an alpha almost. She checked in every few days to see how things were running in the caves and at the entrance, only having to resolve a few small problems on rare occasions, usually coming back with new abilities and a big smile.

She could now focus her fire to a pinprick after an orgy with Terrors or ignite her whole body after an interesting run-in with a Nightmare, and she also got rid of her kiln after a few hours in the Gronkle dens. A few rounds with a Zippleback hadn't given her two heads, but she now had venom and could spray her gas into a thick cloud. Even with all of this out of season mating going on, there were more dragon species that hadn't been between her legs than those that had, yet she'd still gotten their abilities one way or another.

One Changewing had been badly scratched on her flank during a territorial dispute, and Hicca had licked her wound clean to slow the bleeding, staying with her for two whole days to make sure that she didn't pass out from blood loss. She'd been so happy after she found out that the dragon was going to be okay that she'd immediately been covered in yellow spots. Another time had been with a Skrill, sick from eel poisoning, and she'd had to kiss medicine past his clenched teeth while he'd been unable to move from spasms. Acts of kindness that put her in contact with one fluid or another from different dragons repaid her with new abilities and forged both friendships and relationships between Hicca and every dragon she met. Recently, however, trouble had arisen on Dusk in the form of tremors in the earth.

"It's got to be either a Whispering Death or – gods forbid – a Screaming Death," Astrid told Hicca, sitting at a table that also hosted Hicca, Stormfly, and Toothless. "We have to find some way to lure it away from the island, or this whole place will collapse under our feet."

"At the moment, yes, they're a danger," Hicca agreed, "but we have to consider every option before we simply banish them from Dusk. They're the least understood type of dragon we know of aside from a rare few-,"

" _With good reason!_ " Stormfly interjected. " _They've never once said a word in any language that anybody can understand, and they chase off every living thing they see as they jump between islands. Hicca, even among dragons they're dangerous and unpredictable!_ "

"I refuse to believe that they're mindless destroyers," Hicca firmly said. "After all, that's the thinking of Vikings towards every dragon for the past 300 years, Stormfly. I'll go down there and see if I can find _some_ way to talk with them."

"Are you mad?!" Astrid yelled. "You want to go _into its tunnels?!_ " Hicca broke her calm and returned heat to Astrid.

"Have you heard a word I just said, Astrid?! It's diplomacy, not Thor-damned suicide!" She took a breath to steady herself. "Look, if things go south I'll get out and we can drive it off, but only _after_ I try everything I can to reach it, okay?"

" _Not okay!_ " Toothless said, turned to face his soul mate. " _I don't like – no, I HATE the thought of you going into Screaming Death tunnels. Do you know where they first got the name? Here's a hint: the first human to come into contact with one didn't survive, and the rest of his crew barely got away! I'm scared of you going down there with it, Hicca, I'm scared that you'll be wrong and won't realize it until too late…_ "

"Name one person who's more capable for this," Hicca demanded, the room going silent. "I'm going down there with or without everyone's ok, and I'm not endangering anyone else's life by taking them down there with me, are we clear?" They quietly agreed with her and stayed behind as she left. Toothless feverishly prayed to whatever gods he could think of in her absence, begging that she would be safe.

The wide tunnels that carved under the rock of Dusk were wide enough for Hicca to fly comfortably inside, but she kept her hand against the wall to feel if the dragon was close by and called out to it every once in a while to try and lure it close. Her echolocation was useless for long distances through the tunnels but allowed her to see where she was going in the pitch black. After close to half an hour in the dark, she felt rumbling under her hand and tried to figure out where it was coming from. Suddenly the wall gave way, and the Whispering Death revealed itself to her, blind, angry, and whirring its teeth like a knife hurricane. She jumped back from it to give herself some room and tried to think of a way to communicate with the dragon.

Most forms of speech would be useless with a dragon like this, but she remembered that her singing was somehow special and decided to try it against the Whispering Death.

 _Calm your attack, whisperer of death,_

 _Calm be your heart and calm be your breath,_

 _I mean only to speak, on this I will swear,_

 _Let us talk peace without war in the air._

It was more of a poem really but Hicca's words appeared to reach her, and the Whispering Death calmed down, laying on the tunnel floor. Though she no longer sang, Hicca continued to use the half-and-half language of Norse and dragon to speak, explaining the problem that Dusk faced with all of the tunnels going under it. Though she was difficult to understand, the Whispering Death was able to speak her own troubles.

" _I tsum eunitnoc ot tea, ro ym hteet lliw kclob ym taorht, dna ecreip ym skeehc,_ " she explained, presenting her large teeth for emphasis. " _Ot evil, I evah ot yltnatsnoc wehc hguorht kcor._ "

" _Couldn't you find something harder than stone to grind down your teeth?_ " Hicca asked, beginning to understand the plight of both Whispering and Screaming Deaths.

" _Fi ew dah dnuof gnihtemos ekil taht, ereht dluow eb erom sdnali ni eht naeco,_ " she replied.

" _I have two such things in my home at this moment,_ " Hicca said, standing. " _If chewing on them doesn't work, I can always make files and keep your teeth ground down to a manageable length. Either way, I can make sure that you'll never have to sink another island again._ " The dragon (named Delhi) was very grateful to Hicca and eagerly followed her out of the ground and into the open air. Thankfully it was late in the day, and the sun didn't hurt Delhi's eyes.

The flight to Hicca's cave was short, and she warmed up Toothless up to the idea that a Whispering Death was peacefully waiting outside of their home for her to grab some metal. Afterward, she entered her forge and carried the largest chunk of as yet unnamed black metal to the entrance of her cave, and instructed Delhi to try and chew it. She was unable to grind through the metal but succeeded in wearing down her fangs, earning even more thanks from the dragon.

" _I t'nod kniht ll'I reve eb elba ot yaper siht ssendnik ev'uoy nwohs em, acciH,_ " Delhi said. " _Eht ylno yaw I nac kniht fo si ot dnif erom fo ym dnik dna dael meht ereh._ "

" _That's perfect, Delhi,_ " Hicca smiled. " _I'm sure I'll be able to help every Whispering and Screaming Death that you send my way._ " Delhi flew off with the chunk of metal secured tightly in her mouth and sought out more dragons to send to Dusk. The next morning Hicca explained what had happened to everyone, and told them to direct any Whispering or Screaming Deaths to her as soon as they arrived. She went on her usual rounds around the island after her announcement, checking on the village for even little problems, and taking a few laps around the island to check for danger. Her final destination was the dragon caves, and she entered through the main gateway near the lighthouse, saying hello to the guard on duty as she passed.

The dragon pens had calmed significantly after a few of her visits (the mating season was crazy) and now Hicca had barely any trouble from the dragons that lived on Dusk. She passed by a few reptiles with prosthetic limbs she'd made and smiled any time she saw a glint of metal on a happy dragon, glad that her craftsmanship was helping dragons get back on their feet. Parts of wings, legs, a whole bottom jaw, a section of a tail, she'd seen her fair share of severe and gruesome injuries and healed most of them with either bandages or blacksmithing.

She found the injury ward when she was almost through with her inspection and decided to check up on the dragon that had been asleep for a long time. The stone that the Zippleback was sleeping on hadn't been disturbed for three months, and likely wouldn't be for a lot longer. Both heads quietly wheezed, body growing thinner every week, and making Hicca concerned about whether they would survive even if they did wake up.

"Still asleep, unfortunately," the medicine woman in charge of the ward sighed. "There's only so much my herbs can do, waking dragons from a coma isn't one of them."

"Thank you regardless, Tilgha, you've done your best for them, I can't ask for more than that," Hicca replied, saddened by the sight of the Zippleback. "How long until the point of no return?"

"Longshot? At most, they have maybe two months before they run out of fat stores and begin using other parts for energy. They'll be as good as dead by then, and they won't be able to handle food anymore," Tilgha said, sighing. "I'd feed them now if I could, but they just gag up whatever I try to push down beside water."

"I know…" Hicca murmured, watching the dragon breathe. "… tell me straight away if anything happens, okay?"

"Of course," Tilgha said, returning to her herb mixing room. Hicca left the ward with a heavy heart, wishing that she could do something to wake up the dragon. She'd even gone to the goddess for help, but it was something out of her knowledge to help in. She'd known enough to call it a sickness of the mind, however, narrowing down the problem to only two places in the dragon's body.

" _Beyond that, seek out another's help,_ " she'd said, closing her eyes again. " _I know little of sicknesses._ " But Hicca had chosen the goddess as her last resort and had no clue where else to look for help. So, it was up to the dragon to decide to wake up.

Hicca turned her thoughts to lighter things and remembered about the new nursery lake she'd found below the dragon caves. Much like Kyttal's home, it was a body of water inside of a mountain, only much larger, and perfect for safely hatching the explosive dragon eggs. Beside the lake was a wide, flat shore of rock that had been carved into small pens for both eggs and hatchling dragons. Only a few were currently occupied by hatchlings, but no eggs were present. She said hi to the mothers and dragon pups quickly before exiting the caves and flying back home, cuddling up to Toothless and talking for a while.

" _Hey, Hicca,_ " he said. " _You don't suppose we might be able to… use one of your… inventions, in a little while, could we?_ "

"We might," she said slyly, thinking she knew which invention he was talking about. "What invention were you thinking of?"

" _The… the, uh… the…_ " he kept starting but was apparently too embarrassed to finish. " _Look, you know which one._ "

"I'm afraid I don't, Tooth," Hicca grinned, "you're going to need to be more specific."

" _Oh, for the love of – the ring that stretches, okay? I want to use the ring tonight,_ " he admitted, thoroughly embarrassed. Hicca's giggling did nothing to heal his hurt pride. " _Oh, shut it._ "

"Of course, oh great and kinky one," Hicca said, giggling even more. "In fact, I'll go get it right now." She stroked one of his ears as she left, swaying her hips as she walked. Toothless rolled onto his back and moaned while covering his face with his paws.

" _This woman will be the death of me,_ " he muttered. Hicca returned with the black ring around her fingers and a smirk on her face.

"Not yet I won't. Now, let's see how many times you can stand not being able to cum." Toothless gulped at the sight of his mate, partly from fear and partly from arousal.


	16. Goodbye Dusk, Hello Norway

" _Hicca, where are you going?_ " Toothless asked, watching his mate as she gathered up a few items for a journey. She kept brushing a few snowflakes off of herself, it was the middle of winter after all, and there were few places that were even remotely hospitable at this time of year, hence his question.

"I don't know yet, but I'm going to explore for a while. I've had a rough time recently, I need to clear my head and I feel the need to travel," Hicca answered, strapping on her armor and a few weapons.

" _I, not we?_ " Toothless asked, ears lowered. " _Can't I come with you? I might be able to help you, whatever it is you need._ "

"I don't know Toothless, which is why I need to think alone for a while, get some air and see the world at the same time," she said, stopping for a moment to kneel down and hug Toothless to her chest. "I'm sorry to leave you, but I'm confused, and I need time to get a grip on some things."

" _I don't like it, but… I understand,_ " he said, ears still low. " _Take your time, but hurry back at the same time, okay? And please, stay safe._ " They held a long kiss, said one last goodbye, and then Hicca flew into the snow and approaching night.

The sunset was beautiful as Hicca left, setting the west edge of the world on fire and soaking the clouds in orange and purple light. She put it to her back, soaring up high to the jet streams she'd found a few weeks ago, and locking her wings in place when she was well on her way. Her armor frosted in some places, but she didn't bother melting it as she fell asleep midflight, sinking into the cold embrace of wind to sleep and save her energy. She woke up facing the rising sun, zooming over the clouds at an incredible pace. Her rumbling stomach reminded her to go down for food, and she unlocked her wings to hunt for breakfast.

As far as she could tell, Hicca was out of the Archipelago by now, but it was difficult to tell since there was no land in any direction. She caught the first decent size fish she could spot, and quickly ate before returning to the winds above. She came down every few hours and slept in between during both night and day with the help of a blinder over her visor. Four days into her travel, she spotted land.

If it was an island, it was the biggest she'd ever seen, going to the horizon on either side of her. She landed in the most well-hidden part she could find, a sandy cove with overhanging trees and a small brook bubbling from further inland, and bedded down for the night against the dirt edge of her camp.

"First Berkian out of the Archipelago in 300 years," Hicca smiled to herself, falling asleep soon after. She dreamed of Toothless flying by her side, and they talked as they slept. Even over such a vast distance, she could feel his love and speak with him.

The morning dawned with the sound of a battle in the distance, clashing metal and shouting barely echoing through the woods around the cove. Hicca drew her sword and a knife in case she needed them and began running to the source of the commotion. She found a fortress under siege, the last large building in a razed village that had been hastily fortified, no doubt after a surprise attack. What she could see of the defenders painted a desperate picture: men and women that could hardly be called skeletons clawed at bowstrings and ax hafts, using the last of their failing strength to preserve their lives. Corpses were strung up around the hall by their feet, throats slashed and bodies rotten. They had to have been fighting for a month at least for things to be this bad.

Hicca took flight and released her best rage-induced howl, letting the attackers know how doomed they were. She swooped at them, cutting down two or three with every pass and scorching their feet when she circled in the air. She grabbed one of them in her clutches during her last pass, a barbarian with eyes full of murder, and tore his head clean off before he had a chance to shout, tossing aside his body and head and roaring again at the remaining cutthroats. None of their arrows slipped past her armor, their swords shattered on her sides, and their fearful cries were unheard as she decimated them. Their losses mounted until only half of them were left, and then the call to retreat gained volume and they turned tail into the forest.

Hicca landed in the bloody mud, lungs pumping as she came down from her adrenaline high, and began cutting down the corpses, making sure to handle them with care. She could hear the villagers frantically whispering to each other inside, thankfully speaking something she could understand, and she turned to address them after she finished gathering the dead.

"I don't mean you harm if that's what you're thinking, and the bandits are gone for the moment," she called out, silencing the whispers. Wood shifted away from the doors, and the remaining villagers cautiously stepped into daylight, wincing at the harsh sun. Gasps were heard as they got a look at their rescuer, but one of them stepped forward to address Hicca. He had the look of a leader, even if he was thin as a twig, and walked with a fragile confidence.

"We owe you our lives," he rasped, with a voice that might have once been deep. "Might we have your name, to properly thank you? I'm Chief Gulluph."

"I'm Hicca," she answered, removing her helmet and drawing even more shocked looks. She must have looked like something from the bottom of Hel: six eyes, scales, horns, tentacle dreadlocks, wings, and bloody armor, not to mention the piles of dead bodies behind her. "I can help with the pyres before I go, I'm in no hurry."

"That… that would be much appreciated," the chief accepted slowly, quickly looking over her face. He cleared his throat and told everyone to go eat and rest before he turned back to her, a look of confusion dominating his face. "If it isn't too rude of me to ask… what are you?"

"That's a pretty long story," Hicca said, scratching her head and grinning as she looked away, indulging in her shy habit to set the chief at ease. "Why don't I tell it in full while we eat? You could do with a decent meal, and I ate yesterday." They found a fire to spit one of the fresher hogs over (it had been hidden away in a hunter's cellar) and took pieces from it as Hicca told her story, Galluph listening and taking long draughts of water as he ate.

The chief didn't know what to think of Hicca. She looked like a dragon, fought like a demon, and talked like a human. At the same time, she'd saved his village and run off the bandits that had almost wiped it out. She told him about how she'd met and befriended a dragon, and through their bond had changed to be like him. As she found more dragons, she changed to be like them as well. How she got her six eyes surprised the chief most of all: a towering monster the size of a village, burned to ash from the inside out and blown to pieces. Her island, home to man and dragon alike, out to the west across a daunting amount of ocean.

"… and so, I've decided to travel, this being the first bit of land I've come across. I'm curious, is this place an island?" Hicca finished, bother her and the chief's hands empty of food and drink now, the spitted hog picked clean by them and a few others.

"No, my village… or, what _was_ my village, is on land that goes on for miles to every point of the compass. I'm sure there are shores all around, but I've only ever seen the one you landed on," he explained. "If you're looking for more places to look around in, a caravan of traders goes through a village to the south. You might find them in a good enough mood to help you."

"What about you?" she asked with concern, ears downturned. "Your village is reduced to charcoal, and half of the bandits are still out there. I'd hate to come back and find that you'd been killed while I was gone."

"As much as we appreciate you driving them off, we can manage from here," Galluph said with a smile. "We'll build more houses, regain our strength, and be ready for them next time. They caught us off guard in the night, but they won't be able to again, that's a guarantee." Hicca returned the smile and stood up while replacing her helmet and sheathing her sword (she wasn't able to sit while wearing it).

"I'll be happy to see you and your people on your feet in the future, Chief Galluph. May we meet again someday." After a firm handshake, Hicca walked a ways from the village and took flight, heading south. She hoped they would be alright. She landed outside of the village the chief had mentioned, a large wooden wall surrounding it and lamps lighting the streets. Hicca realized that her appearance would be cause for alarm, and hadn't thought to bring a cloak to cover her wings and tail. The dark will have to do, she thought, landing outside of the gate. The sound of her landing startled the guard, who couldn't see her.

"What the – who goes there?" he called out. "Step closer, where I can see you."

"Don't be alarmed," Hicca returned. "I'm just a traveler looking for a warm bed. I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of dress at the moment, I'd die of shame to be seen like this. Do you think it might be possible for you to lead me somewhere to buy a cloak?" The implication turned the young guards face red, and he stumbled over an answer.

"Y-yes ma'am, I-I believe so-so. Stay r-right where you are, and I'll buy one for you myself," he ran through the gate to do just that, making Hicca chuckle. It was funny to see everyone get so worked up about nudity when she'd gone au natural for close to a year now. Quicker than she'd expected, he returned with a cloak large enough for her to hide in. "Here's the cloak you asked for. I'll head inside for a minute so you can put it on."

"I can't thank you enough for this," Hicca said. "Just set it in the grass by your feet, and I'll repay you for the cloak in a moment." He nodded, a bit of red returning to his cheeks as he returned to the gatehouse. Hicca folded her wings tight against her back and curled her tail up, then clasped the cloak about her shoulders and pulled the hood over her head. After a quick check to see if she was totally covered (she would have to risk her armor clanking, unfortunately), she walked up to the gatehouse. "I hope this is enough to cover the cost of this c-… oh no, my pouch is gone too."

"It's alright, I'm happy to help," the guard smiled. "Consider it a gift, you don't have to pay me back for it."

"You're too kind, but I'm glad that there are people as charitable as you," Hicca said gratefully. "If you don't mind, I have a favor to ask: you wouldn't happen to be able to tell me when some caravan of traders gets in, would you? I was told that they pass through here, and I was hoping to hitch a ride."

"Sure, they come within the week, that's when we usually see them," he informed her. He leaned over the window sill, suddenly concerned, and whispered to her. "You're not running from someone, are you? Say the word and you'll be safe as houses from whatever is on your tail." Hicca was struck by this.

"Thankfully no, but I'm surprised that you'd concern yourself like that. What made you think I was in danger?" He rubbed the back of his head, frowning.

"You wouldn't believe the things you hear on the night rounds. There've been women and children running from drunks and rapists come past this window, sometimes in the same pickle as you, trying to hide things and get away quick. You're the first one I've encountered like that, but other guards have told me stories. Just thought to check, better safe than sorry and all that."

"I'm sorry to hear about those girls but glad that you thought to see if I needed help. Tell you what, I've got some dragon scales here with me from a Night Fury, genuine and real as rocks," Hicca said, scratching a few off of her chin into her palm and placing them on the sill. "I imagine they're worth something, and somebody like you deserves something back for being so nice. Take them, and keep up the great work."

"Night Fury scales?" he questioned, looking closely at the small black plates. "Hey, where'd you get-…" but Hicca was already gone through the gate. He later asked around about a girl in a cloak, but she hadn't been seen by anyone but him. He sold the scales for a surprising amount after they were authenticated, and bought a nicer house. He'd married a girl he'd been seeing for a while, and they lived happily together in that house for a good many years.


	17. Traveling In Disguise

Hicca was having a great time traveling across Norway (the name of the land she'd flown to) with the traders. They respected her privacy by not asking questions about hiding her face or moving away from others when she ate, but they were friendly to her all the same. She'd gotten a new cloak that let her stand up to her full height (a measurement that surprised everyone), made of a tough dark green fabric with a large hood and a simple iron clasp at the neck. She asked about different languages they knew one night, and subsequently was taught some Celtic and English by the cook over the course of a few weeks' worth of evening meals, and practiced during the day by having conversations with the other traders.

They were breaking at a small clearing in the middle of the day after a long morning of travel when Hicca accidentally showed her true form after going to wash in a nearby river. There were flowers along the shore, and trees overhanging the water, and one of the jewelry makers had wandered close on accident while fetching water for the horses when she saw a dragon bathing in the river, an impressive set of armor set out on the grass nearby and Hicca's cloak hung in a tree. She dropped her bucket in shock at the sight and ran back to the camp when Hicca turned around at the noise.

"Dragon! Help!" she cried, stumbling into the clearing. She was asked what she saw, and replied, "There's a dragon in the river!"

"No… it was just me," Hicca said, green cloak wrapped around herself and her hood down. They gawked at her appearance: many horns crowning her head, six eyes, black and scaly skin, and clawed hand waving at them as she smiled sadly. "I didn't want to cause a panic, I'm sorry if I did anyway."

"W-why do you look like a d-dragon?!" stuttered the jewelry maker, trying to catch her breath. Hicca sighed.

"It's a long story, and I'd rather finish bathing right now if I'm being honest. How's this: I finish up, and then answer all your questions over lunch?" They looked among each other for a long minute, but eventually, the caravan leader nodded his head and Hicca walked back to the river. The traders all began whispering to each other in hushed tones when they thought she was out of earshot.

"A bloody dragon that can talk, and she's been right under our noses for a whole month!" the leader said, eyes wide. "What do we do?"

"Well, she's been peaceful this long, hasn't she?" asked a blacksmith. "She probably has a reason for the things she did, even if she's a dragon."

"That, can, talk!" the leader reiterated. "It isn't natural I say!"

"I say define natural!" challenged the same smith. "If it means doing as nature intended, then what's turning wood into homes, or even speaking! No animal speaks, so I refuse to call _Hicca_ one after she's traveled with us so long!"

"… Fine, you win, we'll talk this out," the leader said, throwing his hands into the air. "I'm not going to give her the benefit of the doubt."

"We don't expect you to," the cook spoke up. They prepared lunch while the waited for Hicca, spitting and roasting a boar that was only a day old and began to eat only a short time before the lady of Dusk got back. She sat down on a log on one side of the group, cloak still hiding her body as she ate.

"Well, I promised to tell you over a meal," Hicca said, crunching the end of a leg bone. "My story begins on a small island called Berk, west of Norway by a great many leagues. I was once the daughter of Stoick the Vast, chief of the island, but had not so much as an ounce of respect from my village. I was bullied, beaten, ignored, and blamed for anything that was plain old bad luck. About two years ago now, I met a dragon, who I called Toothless. He is a Nightfury, and he was the only one on that island who cared for me before he knew me, and after."

She lost herself to her story, the campfire melted away in her mind and she saw only the past. "I ran away from my village every chance I got to see him in the forest, doing things I'd never had the chance to do: play, have fun, just be me. My father had been searching for the dragon's nest for years, and during that time had the idea to strap a Terrible Terror to the front of a ship, pointing the warriors through the thick mist surrounding that island. When he left, I practically lived in the woods, and my friendship with Toothless grew even stronger."

She realized what part she was about to get to, and toned it down for their sake. "That friendship changed me, and I began to look like my only friend in time. After a month with no news of my father, I was finished turning into a half-dragon, and I was discovered by another girl from the village. I managed to convince her that dragons were not inherently evil, and together we rescued dragons that were trapped in my home for warrior training. On their backs, we flew to the nest of the Queen and discovered a massacre: ships burned to charcoal, skeletons, and ashen metal was all that remained of half of the village that had attacked, that, and a gaping hole in the mountain the size of at least three ships. We fought the queen and defeated her. After our victory, my father and those he led came out of hiding, and I subsequently flew away from my home."

Hicca sighed and summed up the last few months quickly. "Since then, I've founded the island of Dusk, established a village where Vikings and humans live together peacefully, found a few species of dragons I didn't even know existed, avenged my village after it was razed by Berserkers, and now I'm traveling the world." She came back to herself, blinking a few times as she looked up at the caravan members. Their expressions were unreadable, too many emotions showing through for Hicca to identify any of them.

"So… aside from that island… your home was destroyed? Your family is dead?" the jeweler asked, her face finally settling into one Hicca could read, pity and horror.

"Father executed in the square by the chief of the Berserkers, village burned down, and that same murderous cur split in half by my sword," Hicca said, eyes lowered. "It wasn't my proudest moment."

"You killed a dragon queen," said the blacksmith. "How big was she?"

"She left a hole in a mountain the size of three ships, maybe four. Any other comparisons I can make wouldn't properly express her size. Defeating her is how I got a few of my looks, these eyes and the roughness of my scales for instance," Hicca answered, opening her other four eyes for a moment and closing them right after. She could tell that it had spooked them a little more than they already were, a bad move. She pressed on. "I've also acquired a few other traits since then. I still don't know how, but taking in a part of any dragon changes me and gives me their abilities."

"So you're not just part Nightfury," the leader said, "you're a bit of everything." Hicca nodded. "Odin's beard…" Everyone else had a similar reaction and began murmuring. Finally, the blacksmith had enough.

"Cut it out, will you? The fact that she's even tolerated all of your pointless whimperings is a clear tell that she has a hell of a lot of patience, more than anyone of you would have in her seat!" he shouted, surprising Hicca. She honestly expected to have to fight harder to stick with the group. The smith turned to her. "Do you want to hurt any of us?"

"No, I-"

"Do you have any intention of calling dragons down on our heads?" Hicca saw what he was doing now.

"No."

"Are you going to turn us into beasts?"

"No." He turned to the rest of his caravan.

"Sounds like a real monster to me, huh? You don't even have to strain your ear to hear the bloodlust and lies! Beard of Thor, grow up!" His harsh words flayed them into shame, and Hicca was trying as hard as she could not to laugh. The gloomy mood had officially been broken by the loud blacksmith. He turned back to Hicca. "I'm sorry about all this, and that I'm the only one with a good head on their shoulders."

"No, no, you're fine," Hicca replied, giggles easily heard in her tone. "I'm glad that we've finally got a mutual understanding, even if a few of us endured a verbal whipping."

"For their sake and my own curiosity, what _do_ you want?" the smith asked, prompting Hicca to smile.

"Peace, as widespread as I can throw it between people across the world and dragons." She frowned. "So far it's been slow, and I need to learn a lot if I want to succeed. One thing I do know is this: most dragons, with a few grumpy exceptions, are not killers, in the same way that dogs are not wolves. Four legs, fur teeth, and the ability to draw blood? Yes, but they're unlikely to attack people who earn their trust, or their friends even though they have the ability. Vikings are certainly capable of returning the favor. They're both just as smart, usually," she said, muttering the last part, "and I've even learned to speak with them."

"You can speak like a dragon?" the leader asked. "I didn't know it was a language, to be honest. Mind giving an example?" Hicca chirped, warbled, and screeched for a moment, and smiled at their surprised faces. "What was that?"

"'My name is Hicca' in Dragonese, what I've been calling the dragon language for a while," she explained. "It's easy to learn, but almost impossible to pronounce if you don't have the voice for it. I've been teaching the people on my island how to understand it though, and the dragons find it easy to learn human languages, so there's almost no language barrier in the village."

"Color me impressed," the caravan leader said, eyebrows almost in his hairline. He noticed he was getting a few looks from some of the people in his party, and had enough of it. "Alright, fine, she's not as great a threat as I thought! Happy?"

"Very," replied a tailor. The leader sighed at the sarcasm.

"I apologize for my actions, Hicca," he said, having only a small trouble with her name. "You're welcome to stay with us for as long as you need."

"Thank you, but I won't need to keep traveling with you for much longer I think," Hicca said, thinking. "Do you know where I might be able to purchase some maps?"

"Next town should be close to two days away by now," the leader replied.

"So close?" Hicca asked. "I didn't know that. I hate to leave you all now, but I have to get going, my travel itch has yet to be scratched." She handed the leader a small bag of dragon scales. "Here, something to cover the cost of my stay with you and then some."

"Ach, no need for this," he said, handing it back. "Consider any debts paid, as an apology on my part." Hicca nodded, tying the bag to her belt.

"Very few traders, in my experience, are as honorable as you. Maybe that will change in the future, but for now, I wish you good business. Goodbye," she said, spreading her wings and taking to the air, flying towards the village mentioned.


End file.
